April has been an incredibly successful month across all our businesses. Despite many customers and team members taking well-deserved Easter holidays and enjoying quality family time during half-term, we've seen some truly remarkable results.
A mixed month for property
In our property-related businesses, the month experienced a slight lull mid-way through. However, properties priced realistically and marketed exceptionally have been selling faster than ever. On the higher end of the market — properties valued above £700,000 — we're seeing a different trend. Here, properties tend to receive acceptable offers within 60 to 90 days. Buyers in this segment typically face longer chains or are impacted by rising interest rates, which have significantly increased from the record lows of 1% or 2% seen previously.
Exceptional hospitality growth
My hospitality investments have benefited from the exceptional weather, delivering record-breaking results this month. Figurati, in particular, achieved an impressive 20% year-on-year growth. Much of this growth can be attributed to strategic marketing enhancements and ongoing investment in our customer loyalty programmes.
The popularity of our monthly Lusso brunch has soared, with events now sold out until July. To keep pace with this growing demand, we're exploring additional dates and fresh concepts to continually delight our customers.
Positive team development and culture
Our people remain central to our success. We've stepped up our partnership with Verve HR, significantly investing in culture, training, and development. This proactive approach ensures we continue building one of the best-trained teams in the industry, capable of consistently delivering exceptional experiences to all our customers.
Accelerating mortgage growth
The mortgage arm of our business has seen phenomenal growth. We've onboarded a record number of new partners within our Police Mortgage brand, and we're expanding our Airline Mortgage Shop brand to proactively target additional market segments. With these strategic moves, we anticipate doubling our turnover in financial services as we approach the end of the financial year.
A strong outlook
Across the board, the outlook remains extremely positive. Our continued focus on excellence in marketing, customer experience, and team development positions us well for continued growth.
Stay tuned for more updates next month!
— Chris