Guy Meacock celebrates 20 years at Prime Purchase

Having joined Prime Purchase in 2005, Guy is celebrating his 20th year as a buying agent and working at the company. He discusses how buying agency has changed over the past 20 years.

• You are marking 20 years with Prime Purchase in 2025; how has the buying agency sector - and role of the acquisition specialist - evolved since you started out?

Prime Purchase was set up in 2002 and when I joined in 2005, buying agency was still a fledgling industry. Back then, and it seems remarkable now, Prime Purchase was based in the Savills offices. There was outrage that an estate agency should launch an independent buying subsidiary, and we quickly realised we needed our own digs. I repeatedly had to explain to clients that I wasn’t an estate agent even though I come from a family of them. I would tell them that I do what Phil Spencer does on TV and that brought it to life in a way that saying I help people find property didn’t. Nowadays, pure breed buying agents such as Prime Purchase are incredibly rare –there is a lot of buying, selling and property managing going on under one roof, following the American-style broker model. I am proud that 20 years later we still do what we did then – we even charge the same. Not much has changed for Prime Purchase except the location of our offices and the people who work for us, underlining that the model has stood the test of time.

• What was one of the big lessons you learned early on, and what advice would you give to someone entering the prime buying world today?

I was lucky; when I started, I had no agency experience, and I wouldn’t get the job now that I did then. My brother is a selling agent; he gave me a couple of phone numbers, and the rest is history. Now it is not so easy – you need time at the crease to build experience and knowledge. I would advise joining a selling agency, preferably a blue-chip one with good quality property and a sophisticated applicant base that can give you decent training. A lot of good agents have come through Foxtons, while Savills has a great graduate scheme and over 30 offices in London alone. As a selling agent you are limited to two or three postcodes, rarely much more, but to be a successful buying agent you need a good working knowledge across a much wider area. No-one will pay for your advice unless you know more than them.

• What’s been your most memorable acquisition – and why?

My first – a lovely lady who worked for Warner Brothers who took a punt on me when not many would have done. I learnt a lot working with her. I then represented a Scandinavian billionaire who loved listed buildings, but was also a fashion designer and wanted to install a runway for shows in one. That property search took me to all the corners of London in a way none has since.

• Recent years have seen unprecedented political and economic upheaval, and we remain in uncertain times; what advice are you giving clients unsure about taking the plunge in 2025?

Clients have often made their minds up and are looking for reassurance. You realise as you get older that your gut instinct is the best guide out there. If you want to buy, look for someone with experience and an impartial objective head on their shoulders to advise you. It is a long process, and you can’t look too far ahead; we would all love a crystal ball but there are so many unpredictable external factors to contend with. Although we are here to help with the acquisition, we also need to ensure the client can sell again one day; you might love something unconventional but is anyone else going to? We don’t talk people out of transactions for the fun of it but you do have to have that conversation sometimes. As we are paid a salary it enables us to have an impartial perspective, to advise clients away from a property on occasion, all the while providing the evidence which supports our recommendations. Clients can choose to ignore this but will be much better informed than they might otherwise have been.

• What’s been the biggest shift in client expectations or behaviour over the last 20 years?

The expression ‘take a view’ was thrown about the market with abandon for a long time. You hear that far less now as costs – particularly stamp duty – are so high, which means buyers can’t afford to get it wrong. Clients want certainty much more which has added grist to our mill as buying agents. Clients have a greater awareness of what we do, as it speaks to the risk/reward analysis that people go through now. It is all about the long term, about future proofing. We get planning consultants, insurance brokers etc involved at an earlier stage and a much greater degree of rigour is required.

• Are there any specific London neighbourhoods you are expecting will outperform in the coming years?

We do a lot more in the outer prime markets than we used to, which is a reflection of the increase in property values. Covid was an inflection point for those markets, driving people out of flats and into houses. Those who only need to come into the office a couple of days a week can live further out and this trend has continued. We expect to see continued popularity for urban villages, which is often school-driven. Those areas that abut PCL are a value proposition, with Fulham attracting those priced out of Chelsea; Marylebone for Mayfair; Highgate for those who can’t afford Hampstead etc.

• What features and property types are proving especially popular in 2025, and has this changed since you began your career?

We see far fewer small-time investors buying flats than we used to as the private rented sector continues to be legislated against, even though yields are good. There has been a trend towards houses rather than flats over the past few years, helped by the inflation in service charges. We talk a lot about the loss of control with a flat, controlled by landed estates or absentee landlords, and how you can’t influence who is above and/or below you. People are moving towards freeholds, with a newfound appreciation of mews houses. London is going through a bit of an identity crisis; it has endured and weathered a lot but will it go the same way as Paris and be hollowed out? The non-dom changes have already had a profound effect on the demographic makeup of London and its general feel.

• Prime Purchase is solely focused on representing buyers, yet operates independently within the Savills group. Why is that separation important – and what’s your view on agencies that offer both buying and selling services under one roof?

Aside from an ethical standpoint, we are match fit all the time because we have one specialism. It can be a bit feast and famine because when it is not a buyer’s market, the right advice is to wait. Those who buy and sell can pivot but rarely are there really competent buying agents who are also arch salespeople capable of extracting as much value from a sale as possible. We are one of the few remaining pure-breed buying agents; most do both and smaller firms are not under the same level of scrutiny that we are. Being part of Savills means we have a level of oversight and rigour in how we operate so we can do one thing and do it well.

• If you could change one thing about the UK’s property market or planning system, what would it be?

Stamp duty all the way, as it is such a barrier to ambition and mobility. We have to be careful that London isn’t seen as anti-wealth and aspiration.

• What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received?

Listen. Early on in my career, I thought a particular pitch had gone rather well and called the prospective client afterwards, expecting signed terms. He said they liked meeting me, but were not going to employ me – I spoke well but they said I didn’t listen to them enough. That was a bit of a wakeup call, as it made me realise that a good buying agent is client-led. It is not about volume but a level of quality that clients would not be able to find if they did it themselves and listening is a fundamental part of that. Two ears, one mouth – all those teachers knew a thing or two.

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