FEATURE
Like father , like son - Jack Taylor has followed his father John into Parker Barras .
Keeping it in the family
WORDS : GRAEME ANDERSON PICTURES : STUART BOULTON
How family ties are the key to Parker Barras success
Many companies want to project the image they are one big , happy family but in the case of Middlesbrough commercial and business sales agent Parker Barras , it ’ s literally true .
Dad John Taylor founded the successful company back in 2007 and persuaded his father , David , out of retirement to lend his support and expertise over the years .
Now , John ’ s son Jack and daughter Tiegan are helping to take the business to the next level as associate director and estates manager respectively , while their brother George has lent a hand with advertising and marketing .
Despite its success over the years , Parker Barras has always sought to prioritise a closely-knit team over a dash for growth .
That ’ s evident from a stroll around their eye-catching premises in Middlesbrough ’ s Qube building where a pool table , table football , break-out spaces , drinks fridge and free car parking make it a welcoming environment to work in .
One of the strengths of the company is its adaptability , a quality underlined by the range of properties on its books , which has contributed to this being a recordbreaking year for Parker Barras in terms of instructions received .
Jack said : “ I know it is supposed to be an uncertain time economically but from our point of view we ’ ve found that the market isn ’ t slowing down and there ’ s a whole variety of interesting properties out there .
“ For example , there ’ s a 10-storey building on Borough Road in Middlesbrough awaiting completion that will provide 113 studio apartments for students and it is right in the middle of the campus .
“ It ’ s exactly what the faculty is looking for - moving away from the traditional model of students living cramped in a two-bed house that has been converted to four beds .
“ On the other hand , we ’ re currently advertising the availability of holiday home North Shire in Liverton , North Yorkshire , a property that has a Harry Potter / Lord of the Rings theme and which offers a wedding venue , as well as accommodation .
“ There ’ s a replica of Hagrid ’ s House and a hobbit home set in five acres of grounds and it ’ s a thriving business with plenty of weddings on the books .
“ As commercial properties , they ’ re very different offers but both are generating a lot of interest and are something Parker Barras is comfortable handling .
“ Of course , we ’ ve also got more conventional properties - we ’ ve got a 15,000sq ft industrial unit in Skippers Lane , Middlesbrough , that is bound to sell quickly because these sort of facilities are like gold dust and we ’ ve recently sold a similar property nearby .”
Apart from its attention to customer service , two things that have helped Parker Barras become as successful as it has is a policy of no upfront fees and a commitment to advertising properties far and wide .
Jack said : “ Having no upfront fees takes away risk for those looking to sell properties and we pride ourselves on advertising properties on more platforms than anyone else , which helps with speed and efficiency of sales .”
96 | Tees Business