Calcutt Maclean is back. The Wye-based estate agent sold out to a national chain. Now, with things as bad as they have been in a long time, the team is back in the business as Calcutt Maclean Wood. Founder member Nigel Maclean explains the decision to return to the heat of the kitchen.

We keep being told that the economy – and the property market in particular – is in a pretty poor way, yet you are about to set up a new estate agency business. Why?

We have done it before. Christopher Calcutt and I joined forces in 1992, when the property market was probably in an even worse state than it is now, following a period of very high interest rates, which had peaked at 15 per cent. We made a success of that, culminating in a sale of the business to a national firm.

What makes you think you can succeed where others are failing?

In our sector of the market, which covers country and village properties, demand is still being maintained and properties are still selling. It’s not all doom and gloom. Only the other day we advised on a property between £800,000 to £900,000 which then went under offer in a week and contracts were exchanged two weeks later. We can provide what the market needs, namely agents who have experienced similar markets in the past and who know what needs to be done to put the deals together.

You say you are a good team. When did you first meet and what is your background?

Christopher and I first met in the early 1970s, when we both worked for the country house department of Strutt and Parker in London. Christopher moved to open the Canterbury office and we kept in touch. From 1980 we met up again regularly in Canterbury, where I was a partner of Cluttons and he was by then a partner of Strutt and Parker. We formed Calcutt Maclean in 1993, recognising there was a place in the market for the small firm with long-established expertise, which could provide local experience, allied with the knowledge of national and international marketing.

Is it just the two of you?

No, Edward Wilkinson has joined us as the third member of the team. He returns to East Kent where he grew up and, most recently, was working for Knight Frank in Tunbridge Wells. He has already had considerable experience of selling property within this area and one of his latest sales was a large period property east of Canterbury, which had a price tag of £1.6m.

What is your unique selling point?

Undoubtedly the fact that we can offer all the advantages of a national firm, without being tied to corporate requirements. This means that we can tailor the marketing and promotion of a property to suit the individual needs of that particular property.

Do you do anything other than sell houses?

Our services are complemented by Calcutt Maclean Wood Lettings and also Mulberry Cottages, a specialist holiday lettings business, which are both run from The Granary in Wye by Sarah Wood. We also work very closely with Ian Standen at the Calcutt Maclean Standen offices in Cranbrook and Rye, which enables us to provide widespread expertise throughout Kent and East Sussex.