Owner of Charles Banks Simon Banks has been an Estate Agent in Barnes Village since 1983, accumulating vast property related experience along the way. Initially joining Sturgis Estate Agents in 1983 and rising to the position of Associate Director, he left in 1988 to join Friend and Falcke Estate Agents in the village. After 16 successful years at their Barnes office and having become a Director of the company, Simon left Friend and Falcke in late 2004 to co-found and open Charles Banks & Rea with former colleague Charlie Short. Simon became sole owner of Charles Banks & Rea in 2008 and the company name changed to Charles Banks in 2011.
Since starting his estate agency career in Barnes twenty eight years ago, Simon has built up a large client base and extensive property related experience specific to this unique property market. 'In 2005 I was very excited with the prospect of building the company from a standing start into a premier property company within Barnes Village. It gives me and my colleagues great satisfaction to see how the business has grown since 2005, and we look forward to continuing into the future with a combination of hard work and the invaluable support of our many local clients’.
Head of Sales Sophie Herbert grew up in Barnes and continues to live in the village with her family to the present day. Sophie started her estate agency career with Featherstone Leigh in 1995 where she quickly became assistant manager of their Richmond branch before becoming manager of their East Sheen branch in 1997. Sophie's three sons go to school in Barnes so she was delighted to be offered a position within the busy Barnes office of Charles Banks in 2008.
Sophie has built up twenty valuable years of property sales experience in Barnes and Sheen. Over that time she has grown an extensive list of clients who seem united in their appreciation of Sophie's excellent customer service skills. The many testimonials posted on the Charles Banks website bear testimony to her continuing success selling property in Barnes Village and surrounding areas.
Head of Lettings Cathy Cooper joined the company in 2008. Cathy started her Lettings career in 1997 joining the highly respected C Howard King & Partners in Barnes. Cathy quickly established an excellent working relationship with many Barnes landlords and following Winkworths’ acquisition of C Howard King in 2004, Cathy was appointed their legal manager. Shortly afterwards she was made Branch Manager of one of their SW6 offices.
Missing Barnes and looking for a more independent role, Cathy met with Charles Banks in 2008 to discuss heading up their rapidly expanding Lettings division. Accepting the offer of Head of Lettings, Cathy immediately made an impact bringing many of her clients to the existing Charles Banks portfolio. Cathy continues to enjoy the challenge of running this very busy department and building upon the already established Charles Banks property portfolio.
Kerry-Jane Beddows grew up in the North West, moving to London in her early teens to train with the Royal Ballet at White Lodge, Richmond Park. Having fulfilled a long and successful theatre career, she fell into the role of Promotions Manager at Heathrow Airport and was soon managing sales & promotional teams in four terminals. Later, as a Freelance Sales Manager, Kerry worked on short-term contracts for a variety of companies including Dualit, Boeing, Nespresso, The Times, Samsung and Lexus. This lead to a full time position at MBA, one of London‘s top hospitality companies. Here Kerry was soon promoted to Head of Sales and PA to the directors, where she was in charge of selling and managing film, music and sporting events for VIP clients throughout the UK, Europe & America.
As a fanatical D.I.Y. and design enthusiast, Kerry has always been fascinated in property and is delighted to be joining the team at Charles Banks where she looks forward to combining her skills in this new and challenging role.
Leonie joined Charles Banks as Lettings Administrator to work alongside Cathy Cooper. Prior to this, Leonie worked for 10 years for a bespoke Joinery Company as Sales and Marketing/Customer Service Manager dealing with all aspects of customer relations, accounts and marketing.
Additionally during this period Leonie worked in Marketing and Promotions, promoting leading brand names across the country. Leonie was brought up in the Richmond Borough and has lived in Kew, Richmond and now Barnes. Her children are schooled locally and she has extensive knowledge of the local area.
