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Stuart Barr from Miles and Barr talks to the Year 10 Business Studies Groups about being Competitive, Motivating his staff and Entrepreneurial Qualities.

The Business Studies GCSE Controlled Assessment requires students to conduct independent research to investigate a local business in response to an analytical question posed by Edexcel, the exam board. In preparation, we have a practice run to help students hone their research skills and build knowledge and understanding. This year, the topics are: Successful entrepreneur qualities; how businesses compete; and how businesses motivate their staff. We were very fortunate that Stuart Barr from Miles and Barr kindly volunteered his time to come into school and speak with year 10 students about how Miles and Barr and answer their questions.

Here is an example write up by Alana Stevenson explaining their competitive advantage.

Miles and Barr's first office opened in Ramsgate in nineteen ninety nine, just as the housing market began to take off.
The business today has one hundred and twenty nine employees and twelve locations ranging from Faversham to Deal and Ramsgate to Dover and it is their belief that working as a team is the best thing for their business. They have three models for their business: they have two branches that are a franchise, a partnership in which they work fifty/fifty as well as traditional branches in which they own solely.
Miles and Barr compete in many ways, such as: the ability to communicate effectively with clients, their negotiators ability to speak to a multitude of people and gain their trust when necessary, ensuring their staff are well presented and sensitive when dealing with the demands of customers and providing service for a range of clients, whether they are selling a £900,000 home or renting a £400 a month home.
The estate agents have to compete with fifteen to twenty estate agents in Thanet alone and with people getting their houses valued by three to five of these estate agents before deciding on one it's vital that Miles and Barr do everything they can so as to have the competitive advantage.
One of the most important things that the business does is assess the strengths and the weaknesses of their competitors in the local area because this allows them to assess and compare their own in an attempt to add value to their business and gain an advantage over its rivals.
Their self-proclaimed unique selling points vary from flexibility to their diverse range of staff. Miles and Barr are the only estate agents that are open seven days of the week and they believe that these extra days and hours are essential to their success, stating that the longer they are open, the more enquiries they get and the more business they have. Another strength is their employees. Miles and Barr have employees that array from accountants and financial advisors to negotiators and managers and as they attempt to employ self-motivated, dedicated, committed and disciplined staff that will work hard they have the tools necessary to get the job done and done to a high standard.
Miles and Barr also have a large network and a lot of connections across the country, including London, and as many homemakers are seeking homes along the coast this allows them to make sales that they otherwise wouldn't have been able to make.
This business, as any other business will have, has rivals. Perhaps one of the biggest competitors they have to contest with is Ward and Partners, who are also a thriving estate agent throughout Thanet and the local area however they also contend with independent agents.
When comparing Miles and Barr with Ward and Partners they share very similar aspects of their businesses for instance they both advertise on housing websites such as Zoopla and Rightmove. This gives them the opportunity to attract more people to their business in addition to being able to target specific markets.
Both of these estate agents sell houses throughout Kent and they both have huge ranges in prices, varying from fifty thousand to over a million pounds however Ward and Partners have some specific characteristics that Miles and Barr do not: an over sixties specific plan, free valuations and a moving planner.
On the other hand Miles and Barr offer more; the ability to sell your property online, local print advertising, well located offices and long opening hours.