Stephen Whitcombe becomes Managing Director at FIRZT

Leading independent property group FIRZT has this week announced the appointment of well-known industry figure Stephen Whitcombe as managing director.

"The company plans on broadening its footprint in Johannesburg as well as extending operations throughout Gauteng," says Denese Zaslansky, CEO of FIRZT, who founded the group 21 years ago.

"And we feel very fortunate that Stephen, with his wealth of experience, extensive industry connections and in-depth knowledge of our markets, has joined FIRZT."

Until recently, Stephen was national channel manager for mortgage originator BetterBond, responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with several national real estate groups and their franchisees.

Prior to this, he spent 12 years as BetterBond's regional manager for the Johannesburg North and West areas and the Northwest province, and before that, he was with FNB Home Loans for several years, responsible for the bank's relationships with property developers as well as many different origination companies.

During his career, he has not only successfully managed large teams of consultants and different business units, but also interacted with many property business owners, attorneys, bankers and estate agents, where friendships with many of them were formed, including the Zaslansky family who own FIRZT.

"In fact, I've known Denese and her team for more than 15 years and have the greatest admiration for the principles of honesty, integrity and service that are deeply embedded in this company, so I was delighted to accept when the opportunity came up to be part of its next growth phase and what I believe will be an exciting future," he says.

"My focus will initially be on building a strong team within FIRZT, improving sales, and increasing market share. The FIRZT brand is well known in the north-eastern suburbs of Johannesburg and Midrand and we plan to replicate this in other areas. The combined management team will ensure that FIRZT continues to provide and improve on the service and support enjoyed by their dynamic team of property professionals. Apart from this FIRZT will focus on buyer education and property practitioner training requirements as the group grows."

Denese says: "As entrepreneurs and independent business owners ourselves, we really understand the value of home ownership and property investment as a route to generating personal wealth, especially for young people, and we want to play our part in growing SA's economy by communicating that as widely as possible."

Written by Property Professional