The man behind the award, Kris White

You will have probably heard several times that Anthony Pepe’s winning streak continued this month as we attended the most prestigious awards ceremony in the Lettings industry, The Lettings Agency of the Year Awards. As well as winning the Gold award for Best Small London Lettings Agency our own Kris White won the impressive award of Gold for Best Lettings Branch Manager after just ten months of joining Anthony Pepe. Kris currently runs our branch in Palmers Green and we caught up with him to get to know the man behind the award!

Kris is north London born and bred, he tells us about his childhood growing up in Winchmore Hill, a pretty part of the borough of Enfield and filled with old-world charm.

“I grew up in Grange Park, went to the local Primary School and after moving to our second family home in Winchmore Hill, attended Southgate Secondary School in Cockfosters. We lived on a road that was perfect for young families; learning to ride bikes, play football on the green and knock on every door when it came to Halloween. Having experienced this as a child, I am keen to replicate that with my own family when the time comes.”

So we take it that you have a little soft spot for Winchmore Hill, is that where you plan to stay?

“Having only lived within one area probably gives me a bit of a bias view. The question I ask myself is ‘If you are happy within an area, why leave?’ Work opportunities, family and lifestyle are important to nearly everyone I meet but thankfully all of these are within the immediate surrounding area for me. Having lived within a two-mile radius of my family home, I have bought and sold several properties before buying my most recent property in the Enfield Chase area. My wife being a fan of Victorian properties did not leave much scope of buying a property within the Winchmore Hill and Palmers Green area so decided to move a little further north to Enfield Chase, which has an abundance of roads that perfectly suited our requirements. Good schools, boutique shops and pubs that are great for a Sunday lunch.”

You mentioned your wife’s love of Victorian properties, do you share her passion or was it something else that drew you towards a career in property?

“My parents in the past have been passionate about property. Developing homes all over the country from holiday homes to local investment flats. My Mum had a real eye for making a house a home; especially back when Laura Ashley was ‘cool’! Although I had been around this type of industry growing up, I hadn’t considered it as a career until fate intervened.

Having successfully passed my ‘A levels’ at secondary school, I had the opportunity to apply to University. I was keen to do a bit of travelling before going so deferred my place for 12 months to earn some money for six months and travel for six months. I drove to the end of my road and the first business I saw was a small independent Estate Agent. Having walked through the door to hand in my CV I was greeted by the office manager who was in fact, looking for an office junior. After an interview the following day, I was offered a job on the spot. After a few days, I was hooked. Twelve years later, I was still there but now as the Branch Manager. You could quite easily say that it was meant to be.”

When 6 months turns into 12 years you could say that is a calling! So what made you make the change and join Anthony Pepe?

“Having worked for an independent family run business, when the opportunity presented itself to enter into the ‘Anthony Pepe family’, the decision was simple. An award winning business, run and operated by two like-minded individuals that I really clicked with and understood what it meant to be a great Estate Agent. The ethos for customer service and teamship were at the forefront of this growing business. The ability that I could offer some of my 13 years’ experience within the industry to a team of people that had the capability of striving for continuing success was too desirable for me to not consider.”

How did you feel about joining such a reputable agency?

“Coming in to an office of already experienced individuals was probably my main concern when joining the business. Would they buy into my way of thinking? Only time would tell. We immediately got to work to improve the already well-established department within the local area and having just experienced a record quarter, the team are certainly all on board!”

2016 has already been a great year for you and Anthony Pepe, what are your plans for the future?

“We plan to continue to build the sales and lettings departments to strive to find unparalleled service throughout our three branches.  As a business, we are looking to expand and enlarge our stronghold within North London where our foundations are clearly set.”

Within just 10 months of joining Anthony Pepe Kris won the Gold Award for Best Lettings Branch Manager, here’s what the judges had to say.

“Kris sees his role as empowering the people around him to achieve great things, and it is clear that he does this very well indeed. He has recruited high calibre individuals and has worked hard to build an environment, which encourages them to use their collective strengths to become a world class team. He is fully on board with the culture at Anthony Pepe and communicates this to the staff who in turn embody this for the landlords and tenants. As someone who works across both the sales and lettings disciplines, Kris understands the importance of being able to diversify, as no two days, or two clients are the same. He, therefore, works hard to constantly learn so he is fully up to date with all industry requirements as well as market changes and new stock coming to market. This ethos is distilled down to the team so the client can access a high-level service irrespective of who they deal with. The panel got the impression that Kris has been an intrinsic part of step change at Anthony Pepe and has proved to be the perfect person at the perfect time.”

Anthony Pepe prides itself on its quality; commitment and customer care but behind the 25 years of experience is a team of local, fun and friendly professionals. To truly get to know Kris we have put aside the serious interrogation and have hit him with some fun quick-fire questions!

Favourite area in north London

Apart from Winchmore Hill, I would say Hampstead. Stunning properties, parks and shops. Would be a joy to live there I am sure.

Favourite football team

Tottenham Hotspur. Former ‘Ball Boy’

Favourite local pub

The Cricketers in Enfield. Close to my house and a lovely walk along the river.

Favourite place to eat

Sheesh in Chigwell. Owned by friends of mine. The food and atmosphere is fantastic.

Who was your childhood hero?

Tim Henman.

If you could have a superpower what would it be?

To fly. Would be much easier to navigate the North London traffic!

If you weren’t working in property what would you be doing?

Lead test driver for Ferrari…is there a much better job available anywhere in the world???

Favourite moment at Anthony Pepe

Winning the Best UK Lettings Branch Manager of the year 2016 award with the Times & Sunday Times.

You can find Kris at our branch in Palmers Green, if you would like to discuss selling or letting your home you can call, email or pop into the branch today.