Brentford Nub News aims to support our community, promoting shops, businesses, charities, clubs and sports groups.

We profile some of these businesses and organisations regularly in a feature called 'UP CLOSE in Brentford.'

Today we caught up with Ben Madden, the Director of one of Brentford's leading independent estate agents, Thorgills.

Ben grew up in Brentford, living 30 seconds away from Griffin Park stadium on Ealing Road until the age of 12 and attended Green Dragon Lane Primary School, before moving to Boston Manor Road.

He captained Brentford New Inn football clubs for many years and has several friends and family that still live in the area.

He told Brentford Nub News: "In my almost 40 years, I've always either lived, or worked in Brentford – it's home."

Ben first got into the property business at the age of 21, after what he described as an 'unsuccessful stint' at college.

He said: "I tried the academic route, studying Maths, History and Economics, but I found myself bored."

He 'chopped and changed' for a couple of years, before deciding that sales was the route for him and in particular, estate agency.

He said: "Estate agency appealed to me as it allowed me to be 'out and about' for most of the day, meeting people on viewings."

Ben worked for two well established estate agencies, before deciding to set up Thorgills in 2008.

Located on 44 High Street, Thorgills are right at the heart of the community and 13 years on, they are now Brentford's agent of choice, assisting with a third of all moves in the area.

They are a family run, independent, multi award-winning agency, specialising in the Brentford market and that's why people trust them with their moves in the immediate area.

There are approximately 30 staff members part of the team, with 135 years of Thorgills work experience between them.

Six of those are part of the Madden family, "which is not always a good thing", Ben joked, but "ensures we maintain that important, inclusive, family feel", he added.

When asked about the current property market in Brentford and West London as a whole, Ben highlighted that it's been very busy post-lockdown, especially due to the stamp duty holiday.

"The first half of 2021 was the busiest for sales transactions in Thorgills history," he said.

He continued: "The second half of the year as expected has seen a softening in the market, as summer holidays take precedence over moving home and the tapering off of the stamp duty holiday kicks in.

"We do however anticipate a busy autumn market when schools return in September, as the vaccine rollout motors on and travel corridors open up further, positively impacting the number of buyers in the market."

For more information about Thorgills and the properties they have on offer, click HERE.