An Ashby-based husband and wife team have realised their dream of setting up a local estate agency.

Lewis and Catherine Potter are the directors of EweMove Estate Agents - a new name to the town.

Lewis' background is in financial services, having spent 10 years working for several banks, building societies and mortgage brokers. 

For the last five years, he has worked within mortgages in both mortgage support roles and as a mortgage and protection advisor.

Catherine brings with her 10 years' experience as a teacher, nine of which were spent working at a Church Gresley primary school in years 1-3, then one year as an online tutor teaching English as a second language.

They have had rental properties since 2015 and are currently portfolio landlords. 

Lewis said: "We self-manage our property portfolio and have had a dream of setting up our own estate agency for the last few years. 

"So, we started to research setting up our own estate agency and soon discovered just how challenging this would be. 

"We then started to explore other options and ended up looking into several franchises.

"Once we started speaking with EweMove, we knew it was a perfect fit. They were the most professional, proactive and cost-effective, whilst allowing us a level of flexibility to run our business the way we wanted to."

Lewis says EweMove strives to offer a premium service, where vendors and buyers are at the heart of everything they do. 

This means taking the time to get to know the people behind the property to deliver the best outcomes. Lewis and Catherine are 24/7 and work at whatever times suit people the most.

Catherine added: "Fifty percent of all property enquiries come through outside of traditional office hours, so instead of waiting to see if they get a call back from another agent when they open up the next day, we are on hand to deal with these enquiries immediately."

As the owners of the business, they care passionately about the service their customers receive. 

They will be there every step of the way from valuation to viewings - and will personally negotiate the best possible price for their customers, assisting with the progression of their sale through to completion. 

Lewis and Catherine insist they will work harder to get customers a higher price than an agent working on a flat fixed fee, or a sales negotiator that gets paid a monthly salary. 

Catherine added: "We work on a no sale, no fee basis with no tie-in periods, which is all part of our happy sale guarantee."

They are local people currently based in Ashby, but previously lived in Church Gresley.

Their area covers Ashby, Packington, Smisby, Blackfordby, Moira, Overseal, Church Gresley, Castle Gresley and Linton, amongst other surrounding areas – the postcodes covered are LE65 1, LE65 2, DE12 6, DE11 8 and DE11 9. 

If any 'out of area' leads come in, they will be allocated to their closest EweMove branch.

In their spare time, Lewis and Catherine love to go on walks, exploring the surrounding areas.

Among their favourite places are Moira Furnace and walking through Ashby itself, past the castle and around the Bath Grounds. 

They also enjoy spending time in their garden and live with their Ragdoll cat, Monty. 

Their other passions are completing Escape Rooms all over the UK, as well as travelling around the world. 

One of their favourite countries is Italy, where, in 2018, they completed an interrail trip stopping at Naples, Florence, Pisa, Bologna, Verona and Venice.