The Drakes Estate Agents Story
Established in 2022, Drakes Estate Agents brings established estate agency talent to the residents of Wythall and Hollywood.
The company was set up when two dedicated local agents came across an opportunity to open their own agency. Co-owners Emma Daffurn and Louise Lane are passionate about providing expert local knowledge, with close personal links to the area. Setting up shop here has felt like coming home for Emma, who grew up in the area. Meanwhile, local resident Louise has long dreamed of opening a business in Hollywood.
Emma and Louise are your new local estate agents covering Wythall, Hollywood and the surrounding areas with over 45 years of combined experience.
The Drakes Estate Agents Story
Established in 2022, Drakes Estate Agents brings established estate agency talent to the residents of Wythall and Hollywood.
Emma and Louise are your new local estate agents covering Wythall, Hollywood and the surrounding areas with over 45 years of combined experience.
Louise started her career at the tender age of 17 working for GA property services in Warwick. Louise went on to work for Shipways Maypole as a manager at the age of 21, moving on to Burchell Edwards, for a number of years.
Other roles include Associate Director at Melvyn Danes and most recently Sales Director at Smart Homes which is where she met co-owner of Drakes Estate Agents, Emma Daffurn.
Louise lives in Hollywood and in her spare time (of which there is little!) she enjoys spending time with her gorgeous dogs and husband. Louise enjoys cooking, socialising with great friends and holidaying in the sunshine. Louise adores estate agency and is thrilled to be working alongside Emma in their very own business.
Emma started her working career at the age of 16 in retail, working for Morgam News in Hollywood and Beaties in Solihull.
In 2000 Emma decided to explore Estate Agency and found her first trainee role, working for Your Move in Solihull. It didn’t take long for Emma to come back home to Hollywood after securing a negotiator role at Darren Blowers Estate Agents and following that a more senior role for 5 years at Kelly Homes Estate Agents – now Drakes Estate Agents. From there Emma moved on to Shakespeares Estate Agents in Shirley but after 3 years Emma was poached by Smart Homes where she worked for 13 years as the Office Manager, this is where Emma and Louise first met and Drakes Estate Agents was hatched.
In Emma’s spare time she loves spending time with her friends and family especially her nieces and nephews and her dog Nellie who you may see in the office.
April joined the Drakes team in July 2023, she previously worked with Emma and Louise at Smarthomes which is were they all met. After carrying out property renovations with her husband over the years, April’s love for property soon became her vocation and she joined the estate agency world as a viewing representative which she has enjoyed over the past 3 years.
When she knew Emma and Louise had set up Drakes Estate Agents based in her home village she couldn’t say no to the fantastic opportunity when she was offered a new position as a Sales Advisor. April enjoys meeting new people and will be on hand to carry out viewings and deal with calls and enquiries in the office.
In April’s spare time she loves spending time with her children, husband and family and enjoys socialising with her friends and going to the gym. She is a great addition to the team.
Katie started working early at the age of 15 part-time for Eric Lyons Butchers in Knowle and then after college started working at Sun Alliance Insurance Group. A short while later Katie went on to work in Finance for National Home Loans (now Paragon) and after redundancy took an opportunity at Bristol & West Building Society which was taken over by Bank of Ireland, here Katie started in the Mortgage Arrears Collections department and progressed to Mortgage Underwriting reaching the position of Senior Underwriter being responsible for a high-level mandate to lend funds and the training and developing of new and existing Underwriters. The last few years of Katie’s full-time career she become an Auditor for underwriters.
Katie and her husband decided to take early retirement together however, she also wanted to keep her mind ticking over and looked for a weekend position in Estate Agency as this has always been of interest to her.
Katie secured a job at Smart Homes (this is where she first met Emma and Louise) and was mainly office based, primarily dealing with enquiries, booking valuations & viewings, taking offers and also carried out some viewings. Katie is now delighted to be part of the team here at Drakes Estate Agents as a Sales Assistant and works part-time on Saturdays and Mondays, she feels excited to be working here at the early stages of our business and is looking forward to gaining more experience and being part of the team working again with Emma, Louise and April.
Anne joined Drakes Estate Agents in 2024 having retired from Law Enforcement. Anne has been a private Landlord for a number of years and has always had a keen interest in property, she is a local resident and has lived in Hollywood for over 20 years. In her spare time Anne enjoys interior design and reading, she is somewhat of a wine connoisseur and also has a particular interest in Asian cuisine and is well on her way to being fluent in Thai. With Anne’s friendly and dependable nature she is the perfect viewing representative for Drakes Estate Agents.