Becky Fatemi wears her reputation for being ‘ruthless’ with pride.
One of London’s best-known and best-regarded property agents, Fatemi began her career at Foxtons before founding Rokstone, a successful business that generated more than £8 billion worth of sales before merging with UK Sotheby’s International Realty in 2023.
She says winning at the Spear’s Awards is the culmination of a 25-year journey in the property industry. ‘Being a 20-year-old female coming into this industry, the aspiration was always to be a receptionist or a personal assistant,’ Fatemi says. ‘It was Peter Rollings and Jon Hunt [of Foxtons] who saw that in me there was a salesperson. I was very lucky to work at what was in effect a start-up that understood that I actually had other skill sets, and they embraced that.’
Even now, Fatemi’s tenacity stands out. She is known for being a strong voice in the industry – and for getting deals done.
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‘It’s never taking no for an answer; always saying yes,’ she says. ‘And even after a deal is done, the aftercare is just as important as the build-up to secure the client. My business has always been 100 per cent repeat business. So for me it’s very much aftercare and keeping my finger on the pulse – economic and political – and informing the client of the good news and more importantly the bad news. It’s just no filter and hard work.’
It’s not just Fatemi who is tenacious. Sotheby’s UK, winner of our Grand Prix Private Client Firm of the Year award, has been transformed under the leadership of George Azar, who has lured a number of ambitious agents to Sotheby’s and crystallised the firm’s focus on the prime and super-prime market. It means the firm is successfully navigating the changing industry, weathering the emergence of new property agents and broker models vying for a larger share.
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‘In the last two years I’ve witnessed that the two or three leading agents who have continually monopolised the industry have had really no choice but to change what they’re doing or lose the majority of their staff,’ Fatemi says. ‘I think Sotheby’s being in the super-prime market, they are leading. But they are also allowing brokers their autonomy to work as a business within a business, because that really is the way the world’s changing.’
[See also: Who won at the Spear’s Awards 2024? The complete list of winners]
In November Fatemi launched Sotheby UK’s private client buying arm. ‘The majority of my clients have been high-profile clients; they want discretion and they want insight and a black book of contacts,’ she says. ‘The demand just naturally led to the inception. I think what we’ve done is show that with the right mindset, the right backing and the right visionary at the helm, it really does change the dynamics of the industry.’
This feature first appeared in Spear’s Magazine Issue 94. Click here to subscribe
