Scaling Novello Group From Start-Up to Market Leader
Starting from Scratch in a Pandemic
When Novello Chartered Surveyors launched in late 2019, no one expected the entire housing market to shut down just months later. For most small businesses, the first year is already make-or-break. Add a global pandemic, frozen property transactions, and a total rethink of how surveying could even work while keeping distance, and things became even more challenging.
From the start, Novello didn’t set out to be a traditional surveying firm. Founded by two experienced surveyors, the aim was to take a more personal, service-led approach, one that prioritised quality over quantity and gave clients the time, attention and guidance often missing in the industry.
That ethos is reflected in the services they offer. Novello specialises in RICS standard Level 3 building surveys (Novello+ Building Survey), Level 2 HomeBuyer Reports (HomeLevel), RICS valuations, party wall awards, roof surveys, drone inspections, and snagging list services. Central to it all is their Private Client Surveying Service, designed to guide buyers through every process stage, from interpreting reports to arranging quotes and negotiating confidently.
The proposition was strong. But they needed help getting it in front of the right people.
The Early Challenges
By August 2020, Novello had emerged from the first lockdown with a clear vision but limited resources: a small team, a newly built website, and big ambitions to expand beyond their home turf in Surrey and southwest London into the wider London area and the South-East.
They handled most of their marketing in-house and outsourced PPC to an external provider, but the results weren’t there. Meanwhile, they were launching new services and facing fierce competition from better-known firms with bigger budgets.
That’s Where We Came In…
Initially, Electric Alley was brought in to fix and manage Novello’s paid search campaigns. However, it quickly became apparent that the business needed a strategic marketing partner—someone to step in as an extension of the team and help them build a sustainable, long-term marketing engine that matched their service-first ethos.
From there, Electric Alley took over all aspects of Novello’s marketing: SEO, content, social, design and PR. The focus was on weaving these channels together, so they worked as a whole, not in silos and making the most of every touchpoint in the funnel. Messaging stayed consistent throughout and reflected Novello’s values, carrying their personal, service-led approach through into every part of their marketing.
Buying a home is one of the most expensive, stressful and emotionally loaded decisions a person will ever make. When something goes wrong or when technical expertise is needed, homebuyers want a trusted advisor, not a generic report or a hard sell.
That’s the positioning we wanted to embed across every marketing channel: Novello as the expert by your side.
‘Buying a home is one of the most expensive, stressful and emotionally loaded decisions a person will ever make.’
Fixing the Foundations
We started by rebuilding their paid search campaigns from the ground up. Previous campaigns were broad and unfocused, which meant Novello was spending money attracting the wrong kind of clicks or paying for leads they couldn’t convert. We restructured the campaigns to focus on tighter keyword groupings and clearer intent, which allowed us to tightly control keyword targeting and align ads with the specific services and locations Novello wanted to grow in.
We also resolved long-standing issues with conversion tracking, which had been muddying performance data. With tracking in place, we could optimise spend using automated bidding strategies. We introduced responsive search ads, dynamic creative, and performance max campaigns and started testing custom intent audiences to further improve targeting.
Content that Answers Real Questions
Next, we turned our attention to organic search. Rather than churn out generic content stuffed with keywords, we built a content strategy centred on the questions customers were asking. How do I prepare for a house survey? Do I need a party wall agreement to convert a roof space? What does a drone roof survey involve, and is it worth the money?
Many of these ideas came directly from Novello’s surveyors, based on conversations they had with clients daily, as well as desk research to see what type of questions people were asking on the web. The goal was to create genuinely valuable resources grounded in lived experience that could both attract traffic and gain conversions. No spammy link building. No chasing keyword positions. Just straightforward, helpful content that showed experience, authority and trust, which in turn earned links, traffic and the most important metric - customers.
A Consistent Brand and a Flexible Model
Consistency became more important than ever as Novello began expanding into new regions, first across London and then into Surrey, Kent, Hampshire, Essex, Cambridge, Hertfordshire, and Yorkshire.
Electric Alley supported Novello’s on-the-ground expansion by growing their local search presence, enabling them to compete effectively against established firms in each new area. We developed service-specific landing pages, helped refine their brand guidelines, and provided ongoing design support to maintain consistency as the business scaled.
As conversions increased, we built out their marketing automation, ensuring prospective customers received a helpful, well-paced experience without overwhelming the internal team. This allowed Novello to maintain their high standard of service even as demand grew rapidly.
Because Novello’s team was still lean, our role often flexed to fill gaps as needed, sometimes acting as in-house marketing, at other times as a strategic advisor, or even as an entire design team. That flexibility meant Novello could focus on growing the business, knowing their marketing was covered.
The Results
In just over two years, Novello grew from handling just a few bookings each month to hundreds, supported by sharp growth across every channel.
More importantly, Novello built a marketing engine aligned with their core values: expertise, personal service and trust. They weren’t chasing volume or racing to the bottom; instead, they carved out a premium position in a market that often defaults to lowest-cost providers.
Web traffic increased by over
800%
Conversions increased by more than
1,100%
Organic traffic rose by more than
2,000%
Staff numbers grew by
300%
Paid search traffic grew by over
1,500%
That Foundation Laid the Path for Something Bigger:
In 2025 Novello announced the acquisition of Gold Crest Chartered Surveyors—marking a major milestone in their journey. This move establishes Novello Group as one of the largest independent providers of home surveys in the UK, set to deliver over £8 million worth of surveys to homebuyers in 2025.
Buying a home is one of the most expensive, stressful and emotionally loaded decisions a person will ever make. When something goes wrong or when technical expertise is needed, homebuyers want a trusted advisor, not a generic report or a hard sell.
That’s the positioning we wanted to embed across every marketing channel: Novello as the expert by your side.
Final Thoughts
Novello’s success comes from how they run the business as much as how they market it. Instead of chasing volume, they cap surveyors at three to four surveys a week, allowing time for detailed reports and proper aftercare, including negotiation advice and contractor referrals. They’ve also invested heavily in tech: drone training, thermal imaging, and bespoke reporting software that delivers insights faster than competitors, supported by strong internal systems and staff training to maintain consistency as they grow.
It all reflects a simple philosophy: care for customers and value the team. That approach has earned hundreds of five-star reviews, industry awards, and saw founder James Brook named RICS Young Surveyor of the Year and later one of the youngest Fellows in the field.
Novello was built on the belief that buying a home is stressful enough, and clear, practical advice can make the process easier. With transparency, expert support and a focus on quality, they’ve grown quickly without losing their personal touch. Partnering with Electric Alley during their early growth gave them the visibility and consistency needed to scale fast, proof that customer-first thinking and joined-up marketing can transform a great idea into a thriving business.
“Electric Alley helped us grow from a small team into a well-established firm across London and the South East. They understood how we wanted to communicate, built a strategy that reflected our values, and delivered consistently strong results.”
James Brook FRICS, Founder, Novello Chartered Surveyors.
