French property industry leaders participate in 25th year double celebration

The UK’s number one French Property Exhibition at London’s Olympia Exhibition Hall, Friday 19th to Sunday 21st September 2014, was the setting for a great 25th anniversary celebration and reunion.

Organised by the leading publication, French Property News, the exhibition, now in its 25th year, is widely recognised as the best and longest-running French Property Exhibition in Britain, and to celebrate those 25 years, exhibitor and UK award winning overseas removals firm, Burke Bros Moving Group, were joined on their exhibition stand by a group of distinguished and familiar guests.

They not only all gathered together to celebrate 25 years of being founder exhibitors at the French Property show but also to celebrate 25 years of collaboratively working together as a cohesive team of professionals, specialists, leaders, and experts whose collective services ensure that those who wish to move to France can do so in a smooth, seamless, successful and enjoyable way.

They also paid tribute to the instrumental role the team at French Property News magazine and the teams staging the Exhibitions, have played, over those 25 years, in being a catalyst for the promotion and development of their thriving and vibrant French property industry sector. Plus the working relationships forged as a consequence of them hosting these great exhibitions.

With around 30 exhibitors, the French Property Exhibition has stands covering all aspects of buying, selling and owning a property in France and covers services from search through to purchase and beyond and, most importantly, deals exclusively with France, which means if you’re seriously interested in moving to France, and French property, then this is definitely the show for you.

In a wonderful celebration of all things French, the professional suppliers, who individually offer services such as overseas removals, conveyancing, French property sales, design, construction, surveying and currency exchange, reflected on the many 1,000’s of couples and families they’re collectively served over those 25 years, helping make their dreams of starting a new life, or seeking a holiday home, in all part of France, a reality.

Gary Burke and Ben Hingley from Burke Bros Moving Group, Charles Smallwood from Agence L’Union, Steve Gillham from Alliance French Property Group (pictured), Matthew Cameron from Ashton KCJ Solicitors, Betty Bloom from SPA Properties (Europe), Annie J. Digby from Guellec-Digby & Co Solicitors, Penelope Landau from Le Bonheur, and Robert Dixon from Villas in Languedoc, Bruno Taxy from Leggett Immobilier and Melissa Redcliffe from Currencies Direct, all gathered together to join in the special celebrations.

The one crucial thing they all recognise is that it takes a great team effort to make peoples’ French move a successful one, and that cooperative spirt of collaboration can be the difference between a client’s frustrating move to France or a seamless move to France.

Burke Bros’ Managing Director, Gary Burke, said: “The UK premier French Property Show has been the perfect opportunity for all the various suppliers to meet up and touch base with each other, to revitalise our working relationships, and discuss how we can all improve our standards of service to give the client an even better experience. The show is a great way to develop stronger bonds with the important links in the supply chain and show the visitors how integral all our respective services are to their successful move. We’ve been exhibiting at the French Property Show now since it started, 25 years ago, and can highly recommend it for both visitors and exhibitors alike.”

www.burkebros.co.ukAgence L’Union’s Director, Charles Smallwood, said: “September’s 25th Anniversary Show was indeed the most successful for us, as Anglo French Agents. Not only were there many buyers present but also a high percentage of them have already booked to come, see and purchase. With a strong pound attracting UK buyers, we look forward to helping even more Brits find their ideal property, plus advising them of the merits of using people like Burke Bros removals, as always.”

www.agencelunion.comAlliance French Property Group’s owner, Steve Gillham, said: “With an associated agency network covering 16 French regions and 12,000 properties, including residential, commercial, agricultural and building plots, exhibiting since the very first French Property Exhibition in 1989 has been an integral part of both our client and supply chain engagement. It was poignant to join Gary Burke on his Burke Bros stand, along with other long standing masters of the show, as it’s commendable for us all to celebrate the continuing robustness of our industry sector, 25 years on.” www.alliancefrenchproperty.comAshton KCJ Solicitors’ Partner and Head of French Legal Services, Matthew Cameron, said: “As specialists in French law, French property transactions, Anglo-French tax affairs and all those English French cross-border matters, we are acutely aware of the conflicts and pitfalls that can arise when moving to France. Working in partnership with fellow exhibitors, like Burke Bros, certainly keeps us abreast of what are the most pressing issues, regards the clients we all serve.”

www.ashtonkcj.co.uk/franceVillas in Languedoc’s, Robert Dixon, said: “Attending the French Property Exhibition is a must for us. With our complete land search and building solutions, the show gives us the opportunity to talk to visitors about owning what they want in France, at a fraction of the cost, as we gain great insights into how people are feeling about their move to France. Working closely with Gary Burke and all the other suppliers is an important part of delivering the total solution to all our clients.”

www.languedoc.co.ukSpa-Properties (Europe) owner, Betty Bloom, said: “Specialising in the sale of exclusive properties in the South of France, we use a very personal approach, so meeting clients at the French Property Exhibition is ideal. Catching up with fellow exhibitors reminds us how important it is to have a first-rate team of carefully selected suppliers around you, especially with our hand-picked agents in France. This allows us to search and find the right property, at the right price, and in the right location for our clients. We definitely count many suppliers at the show, such as Gary at Burke Bros Removals, as part of our extended team.”

[email protected]Annie J. Digby from Guellec-Digby & Co. Solicitors, said: “In our 10th anniversary year of providing independent legal advice to English speaking clients regards French property matters, attending September’s Olympia exhibition provided an excellent opportunity to renew contacts with other specialists who share our high industry values. Gary of Burke Bros in particular advocates excellent professional service and we are very happy to be associated with their expertise.”

www.guellec-digby.co.ukPenelope Landau from Le Bonheur, said: “Whether a life time dream, second home or permanent move to France, it all involves a large part of everyone’s savings. As a property agent, it is vitally important that we get the right property and offer a sound and complete service to our clients, from beginning to end. With its many facets, a property purchase means financing, currency, legals, insurance, and moving household effects, so we can only offer this 100% support by collaborating with other links in the supply chain. In these difficult times everyone needs to work well together to provide this complete service and where better to consolidate our working relationships than at the French Property Show!” www.myfrenchproperty.comMelissa Redcliffe from Currencies Direct, said: “Having attended the French Property show for a number of years now, we still see it as a great exhibition to continue to promote our message to both prospective clients and potential partners. As an account manager, the show is a brilliant environment to catch up with my existing partners, especially as they’re all under one roof. I find, the better I get to know their businesses the closer we are able to work together for the benefit of all our clients.”

www.currenciesdirect.comBruno Taxy from Leggett Immobilier, said: “As the largest independent British-owned estate agency, based in France, we see considerable interaction across the whole of the supply chain and recognise how important it is to a thriving and responsive industry. As bilingual agents who provide a friendly and honest service, to smooth the client’s progress throughout the buying process, we know, as an industry team, we collectively offer an unrivalled service to people wanting to move to France.”

www.leggettfrance.comThe France Show and French Property Exhibition 2015 will be back again, at Olympia London, on 23rd to 25th January 2015 and everyone mentioned here looks forward to seeing you there.

www.thefranceshow.comCarl Jarvis – Senior Marketing Advisor – MCIM

c/o Gary Burke – Managing Director

Burke Bros Moving Group Ltd

Burke Bros Trading Estate

Foxs Lane

Wolverhampton

West Midlands

WV1 1PA

UK

Tel: +44 (0)1902 714555

Email: [email protected]Website: www.burkebros.co.uk