A week in the life of: Lewis Allsop, CEO, Allsopp & Allsopp

Sunday

This is the most important day of the week for me as it sets the tone for the week ahead. I’m in the office early to prepare for our weekly team meetings with our agents and then for meetings with my directors to review the previous week and set out our targets for the week ahead. After this I sit with my marketing manager and my head of training and development to do the same. The afternoon is exciting; we have just created a mini TV studio in the office so that we create in house video content for our clients. I spend the afternoon discussing a wide range of real estate related topics in Dubai, including the introduction of VAT.

Monday

I wake up early and take my two dogs, Bella and Charlie, on a walk through the parks in Victory Heights. Then I sit with a coffee in the garden while catching up on all the latest business news. I do this every day as I see it as imperative to my business that I know what is happening, both locally and around the world. This morning I head straight to a meeting with a developer to discuss an upcoming launch, followed by a meeting with one of our VIP clients who wants to negotiate a deal on a number of units with them. In the afternoon I visit our new office in Jumeirah Golf Estates. The finishing touches are being made before our opening at the end of the month.

Tuesday

I have a video call in the morning with our website developers to discuss our new mortgage platform. I don’t want to say too much before we launch it, but I am confident that it has a unique aspect to it that isn’t a feature in Dubai at the moment. In the afternoon I have a long video call with my business partner and brother Carl, who moved back to the UK just over three years ago to set up our UK offices. We currently have three offices there and we have just opened a recruitment company. In the evening I enjoy a game of football with friends.

Wednesday

My day starts with a meeting with our fit-out company. It’s a busy time for us at the moment as we are opening offices in Jumeirah Golf Estates, on The Palm and in the Springs. There’s a lot to look forward to and at the moment we’re just making sure that the fit-outs are spot-on and that we’re running to schedule on it all. In the afternoon I spend a few hours out on the sales floor, catching up with my agents and seeing how they are getting on, both with work and in general. It’s important to me to spend a few hours a week doing this. I believe I have the best team in Dubai; certainly without them Allsopp & Allsopp wouldn’t be what it is, so it’s important to me that they’re well looked after.

Thursday

My favourite day of the week. On a Thursday the office is usually buzzing with activity, with a lot of clients looking to close deals ahead of the weekend and more wanting to arrange viewing tours over the weekend. The office has an amazing feel when it’s like this. I meet with my HR director to see how our new recruits are settling in and make sure they are all ok. Moving to Dubai to take a new job is a huge step in people’s lives, so it’s important we support them as much as possible. We have our monthly drinks in the evening, which is a great way for everyone to socialise outside of the office.

Friday

Friday is my chill out day and a day to spend with my wife. The weather is perfect in Dubai at the moment. We head out for breakfast at The Beach, JBR and then catch some sun. We love it down there at the moment, a lot of things are in happening in Dubai right now and it has a great vibe about it. In the afternoon we have friends over to ours for a barbecue.

Saturday

I spend the morning in the garden with my laptop. I review our performance on the property portals to make sure our listings are getting maximum exposure, and then review the previous week’s activity levels and results before looking into the clients that we have been dealing with. Saturday afternoons are all about football for me. I was born and brought up in Coventry in the UK and I’m a huge Coventry City fan – a team I am now extremely proud to sponsor. I watch all of their games online and around their games I watch all of the English Premier League fixtures.