All Flats Estate Agents Close

Whilst many of All Flats 'for sale ' boards can still be seen in the locality, their shop window is no longer displaying any properties for sale, although the interior still contains office equipment and furniture.

There is a 'To Let' sign over the premises but a spokesperson for the letting agents concerned said that 'All Flats' were not their clients and they were not aware that they had ceased trading.

On calling the office number a recorded message asks callers to leave their name and number saying a negotiator will return their call.

The Director of All Flats, Stephen Rigby was not available to comment on the closure but former employee Bryan Sapherson claims to have originally initiated the business and said he had hoped to eventually become a partner if the business had been successful.

He said: " It was my idea for the agency, and with close to 9,000 flats in Bexhill I felt it would be a successfull business. I'd had nearly nine years of experience including three and a half years as a flat specialist in an Eastbourne estate agency so I knew my field, but unfortunately it didn't work."

Bryan said he felt there were many reasons why the business failed which included many vendors being "old school" and sticking to established agents in the town whom they may have used years ago to buy or sell a property through.

He added: "We tried everything we possibly could to make the business a success, from mail drops to client exchanges with other local businesses."

Bryan is now seeking employment but said he's finding it difficult to find a new position due to the current housing market and said: "Many estate agents are laying off employers not taking on new ones."

Meanwhile mystery still surrounds the closure of Simply Homes in Bexhill and St Leonards.

The premises appeared to have literally been abandoned by previous owner Mark Campbell and his team. Their former office in Bexhill has now been re-let to a soft furnishings company.

A supplier of office equipment to Simply Homes contacted the Observer to enquire if any information had been received as to the whereabouts of the owner as the company apparently shut down owing IKON Office Solutions a considerable amount of money.

Spokesman for IKON, Terry Stevenson said "they seem to have up and left and vanished into thin air."