From ballroom to estate agency

But it has proved an inspired career move by Robin Adams (pictured), manager of Abbott and Abbott’s office in Little Common, who tomorrow celebrates 21 years with the company.

Rodney Gadsden, since 1978 owner and head of the independent firm founded by the Abbott brothers in 1937, was this week joined by staff past and present to fete Robin on her milestone.

He said: “21 years ago I had been looking for the right person to join my team, and when I heard that Robin was possibly available I knew I had to offer her the job.

“I was already aware of her as a formidable competitor in the town, but it was not until I interviewed her that I learned about her interesting background.”

Following school at Charters Towers in Hastings Road, Robin qualified as a professional ballroom dancing teacher, running her own school of dancing for 10 years.

After that, she became director of a large garden centre and later a fashion business, before entering the estate agency business in London in the 1970s.

In the previous decade she was also well known as a racing driver, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Stirling Moss, James Hunt and Graham Hill, and in 1967 she became British Women’s Sports Car champion.

On settling in Bexhill in the late 1980s she worked for the old local firm of Staines and Co, and later Fox and Sons.

Robin joined Abbott and Abbott on July 16, 1990, to run the firm’s Little Common office in Cooden Sea Road, where she has been ever since.

Rodney said: “After all this time she is now something of a celebrity in the village, and has built up her own loyal clientele.”

Robin said: “I suppose 21 years working for the same company is quite an achievement, not just for me but for my boss who put his trust in me all those years ago.

“When I first worked in Little Common there were no corporate companies and I think seven estate agencies just in the village alone. But a year or so ago that dwindled to just one - Abbott and Abbott.

“There were no computers in those days, my most sophisticated equipment being the telephone, and for better or worse our industry has changed a lot since then.

“The one thing I have tried to keep is the personal service we give to everyone who comes to see us, and the more difficult the transaction the more I enjoy seeing it through to completion.

“So here am I, loving what I do, but I only wish it were 21 years ago and I was just starting out in what has proved to be a very satisfying career change. It is, quite simply, the best job in the town”.