It doesn’t get much fresher than this

It doesn’t get much fresher than this

These days you are not supposed to remark on a person’s age but it Byron Horwood’s case, it’s too compelling not to.

Byron is Docklands’ latest real estate agent and at 26 years old, it’s a remarkable effort.

Since opening his doors on July 18 he has exhausted himself gaining a substantial number of listings – many of them exclusive to his agency Fruit.

The Fruit brand portrays itself as a “fresh approach”.  And you can’t get much fresher than young Byron.

He grew up in the eastern suburbs and drifted into a senior management position with a supermarket after working up through the ranks from a part-time position.

When he turning his hand to real estate, again he found early success.  He took a two-year break from real estate (being involved in a start-up management consultancy) and finally had a chance to do what other young people do on weekends.

So with the partying out of his system and at the ripe old age of 25, he again focussed on real estate and started looking for ways to get into the Docklands.

Fruit was the obvious vehicle for his ambition.

“The brand is aligned to my vision,” Mr Horwood said.  “I want to change mainstream real estate with a fresh approach.”

Mr Horwood said service delivery, integrity, honesty and communication were the ways he planned to differentiate himself from his opposition.

“The important thing is that everyone involved has a good experience,” he said.

At the moment he has a staff of three but is looking to build that to 10 by the end of his first year.

“I’d like to be doing $4million a year, whether that is in two or five years time,” he said.

Bryon laughs that his skill at playing “Monopoly” as a child led him into a passion for real estate.

“I was unbeatable at home,” he said.

His Docklands base is headquarters for a franchise territory that extends into the CBD, Southbank and Port Melbourne and includes 50,000 homes.

So Byron, get some sleep son.  You’re going to need it.

Simon says print with Snap

The new Snap printer in Merchant St Docklands is full of surprises.

Normally associated with a mum and dad-type franchise arrangement, the Docklands operation is part of a group of eight print businesses operating along the eastern seaboard.

General Manager Simon Morcom said the Docklands business operated at a higher level than the general street-front franchise.  Known as Level 2, the Docklands’ Snap offers a complete range of services and has more digital printing “muscle” in house than you would find anywhere.

The new Snap is geared towards the growing Docklands corporate market, but Mr Morcom said residential and small business customers were equally important.

“In this business you only get one chance to get it right,” Mr Morcom said.  “We’re starting slowly so we can get every job perfect.”

Mr Morcom has been working with the business owners for a long time firstly creating the concept and more recently executing the dream.

The business is owned by the CBD Print Group which employs 70 people and has printing businesses in New South Wales and Queensland.  

Docklands is the group’s first foray into Victoria and opened on September 7 with existing relationships with national corporate clients.

“It makes sense to print locally rather than print interstate and transport the goods,” he said.

Mr Morcom hopes to expand the client list with businesses in Docklands and the CBD.  He comes to the industry from a career in commercial finance. 

“Docklands is a very exciting area of Melbourne.  Our ambition is to be the biggest supplier of digital print,” he said.

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