Pile 'em high, sell 'em fast

There are no estate agents, no brochures and you have to compete with 2,500 other buyers. Is this the way all property will be sold in the future? By Anne Spackman

One Saturday morning a month ago, the County Hall building in central London looked like Harrods on the first day of the sale. Roy Conway went along the queue offering croissants to those at the front who had been waiting in line for at least two days. What was the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that had enticed them and 2,500 others to the former GLC offices that weekend? The chance to buy a new flat.

It might seem ridiculous that in one of the bleakest years of the property recession, when builders are having to offer buyers ever more lucrative incentives, so many people would queue up to part with their money. But they do and it is because of the singular marketing strategy of the man behind the County Hall development, Roy Conway of Galliard Homes.

Roy Conway used to be a sales and marketing man for Levi Strauss. His expertise is in shifting well-branded goods. When he formed Galliard Homes four years ago he applied the same techniques to selling houses.

When Galliard is launching a development, the company has an advertising blitz, announcing the weekend when the development will go on sale. Nobody can view beforehand, no brochures are sent out, no estate agents are involved. The adverts display the price of the cheapest property, which acts like the fur coat in the Harrods sale.

In the case of County Hall, the "fur coats" were priced at pounds 99,000 for one-bedroom flats and pounds 129,000 for two-bedroom flats. The 4,000 callers who responded to the adverts were told there were only four flats available at that price: if they wanted to get one they would have to be there early. Just as a market trader pulls a crowd by giving away the first pounds 10 blanket for pounds 5, so Galliard Homes draws buyers with such bargains.

At each sales weekend there are financial advisers and solicitors, so that keen customers can complete a deal on the spot. The flats are pre- valued and normally priced below their valuation so there is no problem securing a mortgage.

At County Hall, Galliard Homes sold more than 100 apartments at prices up to pounds 450,000 in a weekend. Its model of the two vast blocks is awash with red stickers showing more than half the 411 flats have been sold. Not reserved, but actually sold with contracts exchanged. "We don't do reservations," Roy Conway says. "You can make a reservation, but if someone comes along and wants to exchange contracts we will sell it to them and refund your reservation."

One block of 117 flats went in Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, where this is the normal way of buying and selling property. Galliard Homes is about to return with 160 more. Another development of 80 apartments in Oxford was bought by one individual for the Hong Kong market. Roy Conway has now taken four developments to the Far East. "What's nice is that we keep seeing the same faces returning to buy from us again," he says.

So are the buyers getting a bargain or are they simply being wowed by the sell? After all, buying a property is a very serious financial commitment which many people might argue requires more than an hour's reflection.

At their early developments in London's Docklands - like Papermill Wharf, which sold out in a weekend - Galliard could afford to keep prices low because it bought the land at the bottom of the market. "We're not greedy," Roy Conway says. At County Hall, where the location is far more expensive and the specification higher, the company has kept its prices competitive. You can buy a three-bedroom apartment at County Hall for the price of a two-bedroom one in another new block further down the river. Buyers have to weigh up the various factors and work out which suits them best.

Many in the business doubted whether the pile 'em high and sell 'em fast philosophy would work when Galliard went up-market, where the buyers and the product are more sophisticated. To ensure the answer was "yes", Galliard brought in Savills to give marketing advice. "We do our homework," Roy Conway says.

Mr Conway has a reputation for toughness. He is said to bargain down to the last penny over every batch of doors, kitchen units or inch of advertising space he buys. It is one reason why Galliard can keep prices low. Another is that the quick sell is built in as part of the costing. "Holding on to property is a very expensive hobby," Mr Conway points out.

Despite his hard reputation, Mr Conway is an affable, modest man with a rather old-fashioned attitude to business. He buys British whenever possible. He considers his 30 staff part of the family rather than short- term workers. They are expected to work hard, as he does, but he is not part of the new 60-hour a week mentality. "I'm 57, if I get tired I take a day off. We all share the same philosophy," he says. "We want to succeed - but not at any price. We enjoy what we do. We have a good laugh."

Despite the success of Galliard Homes - it is expected to go public shortly in a reverse takeover of Harmony Property Group - Mr Conway still lives in a bungalow in an outer London suburb, where he is building an annex for his wife's mother. He has two holidays a year and he likes his golf, but that's about it.

Galliard has been lucky that County Hall has appeared on the market just as the South Bank's time has come. The Lottery has just come up with funding for the new Tate Gallery, the Globe Theatre is set to open, the Manhattan Loft Corporation is creating its largest warehouse development downstream at Bankside.

But there is no doubt Galliard's sales strategy is a crucial element of the development's success. Is this going to be the way more houses are sold in the future?