Jordan Bowe (left) and James Skoyles (right)

A new letting agency has arrived in Jesmond, promising a fresh approach and an alternative to what they see as costly, unprofessional competitors in the area. Cloud-Let, which recently took up residence at 1 Osborne Road, has grown rapidly in its short lifespan, which owners James Skoyles and Jordan Bowe put down to their distinct ‘philosophy’.

Both locally born and bred, they came up with the idea for Cloud-Let having personally suffered several bad experiences with letters as students. “Our philosophy is about bettering the services we’ve had in the past,” Skoyles explains – “it’s about being proactive”. The two lived together while studying at Northumbria University and trace the origins of the business back to conversations they had then. Now, both 25, they have built a company after securing a start-up loan less than two years ago.

Cloud-Let started life online, but has since reverted to a more traditional setup. “It’s very hard to get people signed up and paying fees as a new online business,” notes Bowe. But the company retains some of the hallmarks of a digital operation. “From the outset we’ve aimed to be a hybrid agency. That means offering the lower costs of an online outlet as well as the personal factor of a normal agent,” Bowe adds. Cloud-Let offers ‘video walk-throughs’ of properties online to accommodate potential customers looking to move to the area for whom normal viewings would require a lot of time and travel.

But it also comes down to simpler things. “We’re a hell of a lot more proactive than other agencies out there” suggests Skoyles. “We’re happy to do viewings after five o’clock, we can be there on Sunday, we can be flexible.”

As JesmondLocal recently reported, there is some dissatisfaction amongst students with landlords in the area. The founders of Cloud-Let say they experienced similar issues: Skoyles recalls one battle with a landlord over a broken shower. “They just wouldn’t deal with it for weeks on end” he says. Such memories have filtered through to the way the company does business. “Even when we’re not managing the property, we try and keep in touch with tenants and help tenants get in touch with landlords,” says Skoyles. “We go above and beyond what other companies are doing.”

Bowe puts some of this early success down to the personal dynamic between himself and Skoyles. “Friends and family said never work with your best mate.  We both have similar personalities where if we’re not happy we will say it and we will get it done. It won’t be a screaming match because we both have the same long term goals. Our thought processes tend to be quite similar and we tend to get things done quite quickly because of that. There’s a lot of trust.”

The cramped office they now occupy represents a significant step forward for them. They originally ran the business from a room in the offices of Bowe’s mother’s business in Kingston Park. Their thoughts are already orientated towards expansion around Newcastle and across the north east. But there is a hesitancy.

“The problem might come where if you have someone working for you who doesn’t have that vested interested,” says Bowe. “That vested interest is what sets us apart. It’s personal.” With their modernising approach and homegrown ethos these two pals certainly make an interesting addition to Jesmond’s property economy.