Buying London estate agent on being spat at as charity fundraiser

Alex Bourne co-founded London House, a prime real estate agency offering properties worth up to £100m.

Alex Bourne is co-founder of London House, billed as the capital’s discreet prime real estate experts, and is currently appearing in Netflix’s Buying London. It was his first boss, the late artist Dan Hillier, while working as a charity street fundraiser, who became a turning point for his career.

Twenty years ago, I was trying to facilitate my fledgling acting career and in order to do that I had to do a variety of jobs – I’m also a qualified massage therapist – which would help me be flexible with time.

Dan Hillier was my boss at fundraising company Gift and the most positive man I've ever met. Despite ‘chuggers’, estate agents and traffic wardens being people to avoid, it was a wonderful job. I learned a lot about myself and people and that was down to Dan.

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He was a kind, generous, gentle guy with a cutting humour. We were really a motley crew of people trying to find themselves and a purpose in life. We were frowned upon by much of the public, but he made us feel like we belonged to a tribe who were making a difference in the world.

It seems a basic skill set to stop people and ask for money, even though you are largely ignored, but what Dan did so well was lift morale, create a team spirit and pick everyone up when they were down.

Dan Hillier proved an inspirational boss for Alex Bourne and colleagues at charity Gift.

At some point you would have an emotional breakdown and feel like you weren’t worth anything. I will never forget asking a gentleman and his girlfriend whether they would like to stop, but he spat in my face.

I felt so degraded that I was pinned to the spot. Dan calmed me down, picked me up and said what I was doing was amazing. He built up my esteem again and the next person who walked past me stopped. I even became a team leader from that point.

An incredibly talented artist, especially in his latter years, Dan made us go out there with belief. When you’re inspired, you inspire other people. It was a community and we still keep in touch today.

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There was no judgement, it was a welcoming atmosphere and everyone made to feel important. They are transferable skills that I’ve taken into property. It doesn’t matter who you are dealing with or who walks through the door, although some negotiators in my first property agency job would sit there and work out whether they were worth getting up for.

I remember one young gentleman who came in wearing a tracksuit and everyone ignored him. I sat him down and spent time asking about himself. He turned out to be a Qatari prince who owned a football club in France. That’s what drives me as a person, just making sure of a human connection.

I was a bit of a lost child, with ADHD and being hyperactive. I went to five schools and was turfed out of one and told I was stupid for years. I have been through a lot of rejection from people misunderstanding me and I suppose I have become a people pleaser as a result of that.

Alex Bourne has grown London House since first launching in 2013. Photo: Sophie Harbinson

But I have a good skill set of people hopefully trusting me and cutting through the preconceptions. People come through the door automatically on the back foot and I like breaking down that stigma.

We are all vulnerable and I see it as a strength. I try to bring that to what we do at London House today, which has stood us against the prime central London agents.

Knowing that moving home is one of the most stressful times in someone’s life, London House’s approach has always been to meet emotion with empathy, building personal connections with clients and being at their side as they change homes, sometimes due to a loss of a partner, divorce or family disputes.

I don’t know if it is just at this end of the market but it doesn’t just stop at selling people’s houses. I still keep in touch with clients today and we are often invited to weddings, children’s bah mitzvahs and birthdays across the world.

We made our first sale of a Knightsbridge townhouse valued at £16.95m and recently sold Harold Pinter's former home for almost £15m. We are one of the most discreet and personal property services and we haven’t really shouted at what we do.

This Albion Riverside, Chelsea property is on the market at £9m through London House.

We deal with anyone from A-listers and royalty to tech entrepreneurs, but we thought it would be a great opportunity to showcase London when Netflix show Buying London asked me to appear.

It’s been interesting seeing the reaction since it was released. We spend the whole time moaning about stuff, weather included, but once there is something to shout about, we actually like being positive. Are we just scared to be disappointed?

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I think London has an inferiority complex and we lack confidence in what the city has to offer. But there has been a real surge of positivity internationally which has come our way at London House since the show's release.

We have incredible neighbourhoods and we will show clients each one and what they have to offer. We should be celebrating London as this amazing city.

We sadly lost Dan to cancer in February. He was positive until the end, despite the obvious pain he was going through.

There was simply no hierarchy when I worked with him and it’s powerful to think of the effect he has had on me today.

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