Online estate agency hails Apprentice ace

The online estate agency, tem-po.co.uk, has appointed Neil Clough to help grow its customer base.

Neil, from Warrington, was hailed as Lord Sugar’s favourite candidate in last year’s series, but did not reach the final stage after his business plan to create an online estate agency business was deemed to be flawed, with Lord Sugar dubbing him as “the right man, wrong plan.”

The appointment closely follows the launch of Neil’s new business, NWC Consultancy, which has been under development since The Apprentice and provides sales consultancy, sales training, coaching and mentoring.

As non-executive sales director of the Freckleton-based company, Neil’s remit will be to expand tem-po.co.uk’s customer base and property portfolio across the North West region and beyond.

Welcoming the appointment, Annette Jones, managing director at tem-po.co.uk, said: “With extensive experience in many different sales environments, we are confident that Neil will be a valuable asset to the company and offer a new perspective on our current sales approach and development. Combined with this, Neil is confident, driven and passionate about property so we are certain that he will be dedicated to helping us achieve our growth plans and extend tem-po.co.uk’s reach.”

Neil added: “I am delighted to have the opportunity to work with Annette and the tem-po.co.uk team as we share the same business values and they are a progressive online estate agency with ambitious growth plans.

“Over the last few years it’s clear that the property market has changed dramatically. More and more homeowners are searching for properties online rather than using the high street.

“This was the premise behind my business plan – I knew that the fundamental assumptions were sound, however the devil, as they say, is in the detail and that is ultimately what led to my departure from the show.

“It’s great that with tem-po.co.uk we’ve been able to take the best elements from my business plan and apply them to the tem-po model. I’m looking forward to working with the team to build tem-po.co.uk as a nationally-recognised brand.”

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