A Q&A with Gavinder Sangra, Director of Shonki Bros

A Q & A with the Director of Shonki Bros, Gavinder Sangra. Hear his thoughts on the company going through a rebrand, what's next for Shonki Bros, and how the business has evolved since the peak of the pandemic. 

What is the reason behind the Shonki Bros rebrand?

We needed a more up-to-date and fresh approach to marketing. Our current logo has been the same for over 15 years!

Where is the business heading, how has it changed?

A lot of our business has moved online, in terms of virtual tours and viewings. The live-streamed auctions have proven to be very successful in the last 12-18 months. The online platforms have bought about a positive change to how we work.

How has the business grown in the past 2/3 years

The various online platforms have allowed us to grow and it has bought about different avenues to bring in more new clients. I wouldn’t suggest the business has grown significantly but the wider audience being able to reach out to us has grown which has then bought in different areas of growth. I think our presence on social media and online has grown more than anything which is giving a better user experience with our brand. 

What are the roles of the staff?

One of the biggest cliches when it comes to roles with our business is this person does this and this person does this, but in essence, everyone does a bit of everything!

Myself and my father Lal tend to handle more of the valuation side of the business and negotiation of property sales and commercial lettings.

We have a lettings manager, Anj, who again should only be doing the lettings side of the business however gets roped in to do a whole lot more! Kalis is one of our negotiators, however again takes on various roles within sales, lettings, and auctions. Narinder is our office administrator who looks after all of our clients and the day-to-day running of the office. My mother Kam is in control of all of the companies accounts.

What is the ambition for Shonki Bros?

The ambition is to continue to grow on all social media platforms as this is where most businesses are heading. Continue to also grow online with all the various ways of being able to interact and engage with customers.  Hopefully to continue our success with our live-streamed auctions which are now more frequent than the traditional auctions we used to hold in the football stadium.

Discuss the 100% success rates, why has that happened? What has encouraged this?

We have been very lucky to be able to report 100% success rates in our last three live-streamed auction sales. In general, the property market is following an upward only trend, which has definitely contributed to the success. However, we have been very flexible in terms of viewings, helped a lot with negotiations between vendors and prospective purchasers, as well giving buyers confidence.

What services are you offering

We offer sales, lettings, auctions as the three main core areas of our business. Our property auctions are what we are well known for in the area, however, our property management has significantly grown over the last 2 years with more properties coming onto the market to rent. Our property auctions have evolved over the last 18 months with a live-streamed auction happening every 6-7 weeks which has allowed us to take on more business.  

What is the current market like after covid and stamp duty?

The current property market is very buoyant. Inquiries for both sales and lettings are very frequent with the office inundated with people wanting to view properties for both sales and to rent. From our perspective, we keep asking ourselves WHAT PANDEMIC! It is a very fortunate position to be in as a lot of businesses have suffered, we are very thankful to all of our clients and companies we work with for their patience and continued support during what has been very difficult times for many.

We would like to give a special thank you to all of our tenants. During the last 18 months, the economic climate for working professionals has been difficult with many losing jobs and income, however, I can report that only a handful of our tenants have not paid rent for some reason or another but on the whole, every tenant has found a way of catching up or remained paying on time.

Thank you again from all the staff at Shonki Bros Estate Agents & Auctioneers.

Our next auction takes place on Wednesday 16th February 2022, here is a list of current lots available: https://www.shonkibros.com/auctions/latest-auctions/view