In a statement to Central Office staff and Franchise Owners, Mike Goddard, founder of Belvoir, announced his decision to stand down as CEO with immediate effect in order to take on the role of Chairman. Operations Director Dorian Gonsalves has accepted the position of Managing Director (MD) and will take over the day-to-day direction of the Company.

 

“This year I reached my 61st birthday and feel that now is the right time for me to hand over the reins of the day to day running of Belvoir,” said Mike, who founded Belvoir with his wife Stephanie, in 1995. “The shareholders, who include Stephanie and my son Andrew, have no current intention of selling the Company, but are investing to take Belvoir to the next level.

 

“In my new role of Chairman, I will continue to act as an ambassador for the Company, providing an effective policy of promoting Belvoir to the business community, the industry and the general public.”

 

Mike will also continue to serve the lettings and franchising industries in his role as Chairman of the British Franchise Association (bfa), serving on the Board of the Property Ombudsman, and undertaking public speaking engagements at seminars and conferences.

 

With reference to Dorian’s appointment as MD, Mike said: “Dorian and Andrew have driven the company for the last four years and have succeeded in doubling network turnover, almost doubling the size of the network and built and developed an effective and loyal Central Office team. They have guided Belvoir through a period of unprecedented economic challenges and brought us to the position we are at today. 
I am massively indebted to their contribution to Belvoir. Dorian has personally recruited the majority of the Central Office team and has been instrumental in developing Belvoir to its current status.

 

“For many years Dorian has worked behind the scenes, always giving Belvoir, the team at Central Office, and the franchise network all of the glory without taking credit for Belvoir’s achievements personally. This, I feel, is a demonstration of Dorian’s incredible belief in Belvoir, the people he works with, and each and every Franchise Owner within the network. Dorian has therefore earned this promotion, which is fully supported by the directors and shareholders.”

 

In accepting the role of MD, Dorian Gonsalves said: “I am delighted, proud and excited – all of these emotions rolled into one and I can’t express how pleased I am with our past achievements and what lies ahead for the future. I will do everything within my power to build upon the successes of recent years.

 

“All future changes will be related to achieving our shared vision for Belvoir. In particular I will focus on further developing brand Belvoir, and its role as a specialist residential lettings agency, of which we are extremely proud.

 

“My vision for the future includes increasing the network to 200 offices within the next three years and further developing our well-defined brand that truly represents our three core values of customer service, professionalism and specialization.”

 

Mike also paid tribute to the work of Andrew Goddard and said: “Andrew will continue to work in Belvoir, providing vital legal and accounts support to Dorian, but on a reduced three day week, based at home. My wife Stephanie has already been working on a much reduced basis in recent years and she will continue to do this and assist Dorian in any way that she can.

 

“I have every confidence that under Dorian’s new leadership Belvoir will grow to greater heights and continue to be respected and admired by the whole property and franchising industry.”

 

Mike Goddard recaps on the early days of Belvoir until the present day…

 

“My wife Stephanie and I started Belvoir in 1995 in Grantham and in 1996 awarded our first franchise to Andy Campbell in Elgin, Scotland. Andy is still with us today. Since then we have built the operation based on customer service, professionalism and being specialists in the lettings industry. This formula has worked and continues to work for the future.

 

“In 1999 we attracted business angels Marco and Emma Capello who purchased 50% of our share holding. With the money we bought out a small franchise chain called Copleys and some of those franchisees are still with us today, including Milton Keynes, Leamington Spa, Harrogate. Belvoir continued to grow and in 2006 we bought back the shares, giving us full ownership of Belvoir once again. We strengthened and developed the brand, dramatically grew the number of quality Franchise Owners, doubled our turn over and became one of the leaders in our industry.

 

“In late 2007 and 2008 the recession hit everyone and we took a concerted decision to position ourselves to help franchisees deal with increasing competition by redirecting our resources to franchise support and business development. This worked really well, such that we built up a buffer against the recession, continued the year on year growth when many others were going under, and allowed us to deal with those franchisees who were not abiding by the rules of the game. 

 

“In 2009 there were signs that we were coming out of recession, and we recruited four new staff members at Central Office with a view to paving the way to taking Belvoir to it’s next new and exciting phase of growth.

 

“In short we have a renewed commitment to grow franchisee performance, to grow turnover and to re-establish our brand proposition and perception to the general public. Today, in 2010, the Company has clear objectives going forward to position Belvoir as the finest and most successful lettings agency in the country. As Belvoir’s new Chairman of the Board of Directors, and on behalf of all the directors, I can confirm that this is the start of new and exciting times for Belvoir.”