Former 'Romans' Join Forces

Ahead of imminent expansion plans, Director of Capital & Coastal, Michael Riley, a former Head of Operations for Romans in the Thames Valley, has welcomed Iain White, formerly Managing Director of Romans South, as a non-executive director to his company.

The pair worked together at Romans from 1993-2007 before Mr Riley went on to be Head of Residential Sales for Savills. In 2011, after spending 21 years with Romans, Iain White moved to Countrywide as MD of their Thames subsidiary with coverage in London and the M3/M4 corridor. Meanwhile, Michael Riley had left Savills to set up on his own, forming Capital & Coastal, a hybrid estate agency specialising in the sale and let of property with water frontage, sea views and coastal locations along the South coast.

Combined, the two have an enviable amount of industry experience and plan to dramatically expand Capital & Coastal. Commenting on Mr White's appointment, Michael Riley said:

"Finding a mentor/advisor that you admire and trust is difficult, but knowing you can work with that person too is virtually priceless. Iain has witnessed the expansion of Romans from a three office operation to a multimillion pound empire. He has a clear understanding of what is happening in the market place and the variables at play, with the ability to manipulate these factors to ensure a well-regarded, profitable estate agency. His branch was always the most successful year on year. That's because regardless of his position, he remained close to ground operations, rather than succumbing to a more corporate way of thinking which can be somewhat removed from the day to day competitive nature of estate agency."

Iain White will be supporting Capital & Coastal with updating their operational systems, future acquisitions and expansion of existing business model, as well as providing a valuable counsel to Michael Riley.

On his decision to join Capital & Coastal, Mr White added: "I am extremely impressed with what Michael has achieved, especially starting during a very difficult market in 2009. If you had said someone could launch a high-end, online estate agency in 2009 most people would have thought you were mad. However, Michael has always achieved what he set his mind to and has an ability to think ahead and focus on the 'nitty-gritty'. His online experience combined with his time at Romans and Savills creates a rare combination of experience not seen in other agents and this made the opportunity to work with him even more exciting to me."