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The Audio Long Read

From the archive: Super-prime mover: Britain’s most successful estate agent

The Audio Long Read

The Guardian

Society & Culture

4.32.4K Ratings

🗓️ 21 May 2025

⏱️ 45 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2022: Gary Hersham has been selling houses to the very rich for decades. At first, £1m was a big deal. Now he sells for £50m, £100m, even £200m. What does it take to stay on top in this cut-throat business? By Sophie Elmhirst. Read by Andrew McGregor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcript

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0:00.0

This is The Guardian.

0:08.8

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Wind through the city's charming streets before sampling Santander's succulent fresh seafood.

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This message was paid for by Brittany Ferries.

0:42.9

Hello, I'm Faker-Rothers, host of the Guardian Women's Football Weekly.

0:47.2

Every week we bring you the very latest from the Women's Super League, the FA Cup, Champions League and leagues around the world.

0:53.8

And as we get ready for the all-important women's European championship in the summer,

0:58.5

our panel of experts join me and football writer Susie Rack to check in with how Serena Vigman's lionesses are preparing.

1:05.3

So listen to the Guardian Women's Football Weekly wherever you get your podcasts.

1:19.4

The Guardian Archive Long Read. Hi, I'm Sophie Elmhurst. I'm the author of Super Prime Mover, Britain's most successful estate agent,

1:36.0

which was published in The Guardian Long Read in 2022.

1:40.3

So a story caught my eye a while ago about the sale of the most expensive house in London.

1:45.2

It was Rutland Gate, a huge white stucco building in London, overlooking Hyde Park.

1:50.8

And I wondered what was involved in selling a house like that and contacted the estate agent

1:54.7

involved, who was Gary Hirsham at Beecham Estates.

1:58.9

And Gary turned out to be, I think, one of the most extreme and melodramatic

2:02.0

characters I've ever encountered in this job. And I knew straight away he'd make a wonderful subject.

2:07.3

He was also kind enough to let me into his world and follow him around some of the more extreme

...

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