Simon Parker
Sadhana Smiles, the current chief executive officer for Harcourts NSW, is heading south to take over the role of chief executive officer for Harcourts Victoria.
Ms Smiles, who assumed the NSW role in 2011, worked for several major real estate groups in Melbourne prior to moving to Sydney. Harcourts added that her decision to relocate to Victoria was also motivated by family reasons as she has children who are based in Melbourne.
The announcement came after current CEO of Harcourts Victoria, Brent Pullar, decided to relinquish his position earlier this year.
In her role with Harcourts Victoria, Ms Smiles will be responsible for driving internal growth through the development of the group’s existing business by coaching and mentoring its business owners as well as recruiting new talent and offices within the state, the company said.
Over the past 12 months Harcourts NSW has posted a 26 per cent surge in settled sales and a 50 per cent jump in the average sale commission per sales consultant, Harcourts said.
Moreover, Harcourts International's sales grew by $1.8bn in the 2011 financial year with fewer offices, the company reported last month.
Bryan Thomson, head of real estate operations for Harcourts Australasia, said Ms Smiles helped drive what has been the NSW team’s best year on record.
“Sadhana is an incredibly strong leader and has successfully grown the Harcourts business within New South Wales over the past year, producing some truly exceptional results,” he said.
“Given her extensive experience within Victoria, Sadhana is ideal to head up our operations within the state and we are confident that she’ll be welcomed back to the industry with open arms.
“We’re thrilled that Sadhana has made the decision to head up our Victorian operations and are confident that her involvement will lead to further growth and success for our group,” Mr Thomson continued.