Terra Cotta is owned by Nicola Cooper & Mandy McClean, who first teamed up on a tennis court in 1994, & they enjoyed success representing the ladies 1st team at the David Lloyd Tennis Centre in Raynes Park.
In 1997, both Nicola & Mandy happened to be both selling their respective properties, & they found themselves experiencing similar frustrations, basic property particulars, lack of communication which was also sometimes less than honest as & when they did receive it, & an apparently genuine lack of interest in their specific requirements. Hence the concept of Terra Cotta was born.
With Nicola’s background working in the City in an analytical & organisational role, & Mandy’s background working with special needs & disadvantaged children & also as a trained counsellor, we felt our skills were well suited to enable us to offer a somewhat different type of estate agency. Nicola had already bought & sold several properties at this stage, & Terra Cotta enabled her genuine interest & love of property to continue to evolve.
Our 1st office opened in 1998 in Cobham & offered just residential sales. 18 months later, as a result of repeated requests from our clients, we started our residential lettings department, which included property management.
Seeing an opportunity to specialise in the Surrey Hills villages, an area where there was little competition from other agents, we opened our Gomshall office on the A25 in 2002. We remained there until Christmas 2020, when we moved a mile along the road into Shere village. We are now the biggest agent specialising in the Surrey Hills area of outstanding natural beauty, & cover all the villages between Guildford, Dorking & Cranleigh.
Since we opened in the Surrey Hills, we have had a couple of decades to further develop the business, constantly striving to understand & support our applicants & client’s stresses & needs, fine tuning our brochures & continuing to extend our advertising & marketing to offer a comprehensive package to all parties. We always offer honest & genuine advice – we believe straight forward talking is always the best policy. Mandy & Nicola are both happy to provide free, no obligation valuations, advising on current & potential values, always seeking out the best route forward to achieve the best possible prices or to suit your individual needs.
Michaela joined Terra Cotta in 2016 in an administrative role, primarily on the lettings side. She is incredibly organised, conscientious, calm & helpful so is an extremely valuable asset to our team.
Charly has been with us since early 2020 & co-ordinates the property management for all our managed properties. She has fantastic communication skills, is well organised & patient.
Hazel has also recently joined our team as an administrator and has already settled in perfectly, offering a friendly and efficient service.
Regular part-time staff who work mainly on Saturdays & provide other ad hoc cover as required include Tim & Nicky, who have been with Terra Cotta for 5 years & 3 years respectively. Their experience & knowledge of both the business & area is a critical part of our ongoing success.
