Belvoir Lettings has appointed experienced sales and property professional Christopher Watkin as the company's new recruitment manager. With a background in estate agency and banking, Christopher is looking forward to his new role and breaking through Belvoir's 150-office barrier.

“I have 17 years of property and banking experience,” explains Christopher. “I started with Halifax in their estate agency arm in 1993, and was promoted from negotiator to valuer to senior valuer and then to manager. In 2004 I became a bank manager, operating a multi-channel, multi-income streamed business of banking/savings/long-term savings/consumer credit/mortgages and property.”

Following redundancy from Halifax during the LSL take-over, Christopher moved to a high profile independent agency in Leicestershire, working on professional lettings, student lettings and residential sales.

“In the past 10-15 years the property market has changed considerably and now it is almost the norm for people to rent a property rather than buy,” Christopher says. “This is Belvoir's 15th anniversary year and it is a very exciting time for me to join the company.

“This month I am attending the same three-week induction course that all Belvoir franchise owners go on, so that I become familiar with every step of the procedures that a new franchise owner will face. I am confident that this, combined with my sales, networking and people skills will enable me to grow the network.”

Belvoir MD Dorian Gonsalves says: “Our commitment to both franchise recruitment and franchise resales is ongoing and the appointment of Christopher, who is an extremely high calibre professional, will be a real asset to the team. Christopher's enthusiasm, sales and people skills, as well as a depth of property and banking experience will greatly enhance the Belvoir recruitment team.”