We had one student who mistook the bidet for the toilet and was too embarrassed to speak to the host, so they left there and then

The big thing is that we are dealing with so many different cultures. But, one of the premises of homestay, is that the student speaks English. The British Council regulation is that you can’t have two people of the same nationality in the same home.

We also had a host for example who had a student from Japan who would always leave the front door open in the morning. She would speak to him [the student] and tell him, listen this is London, you have to close the front door. But, he would keep doing it. So she called us up and we explained it to him. He basically told us that, in his culture, the eldest member of the family had the parent go behind him and close the front door.

The PIE:  How has the homestay industry changed since when you launched?

Andrew: It has changed a lot. There are more operators now in our sector and it has become more competitive. But, with the visa policies changing there are less students. So a lot of our clients are competing for fewer students. If a school has to outsource their accommodation, it works quite well for us as a business.

For the agents and the student the accommodation is as important as the course

The PIE: What’s new on the horizon?

Andrew: We’ve just upgraded our internal systems, which gives clients a white label website where they can effectively have access to our database. We are also looking into a feedback mechanism, as part to integrate into our bespoke system, where students can tell us if they disliked their host families.

The PIE:  What role does homestay play in international education?

Andrew: When you go to study conferences, one of the first things an agent will ask you is what accommodation do you offer. For the agents and the student the accommodation is as important as the course. So, the experience the student has from day one informs the overall experience of their time here in London.

The PIE: And finally, how did you both get into homestay?

Anthony: We both come from different backgrounds. I was a management accountant, qualified in the healthcare industry with BUPA. Left university in 2001 but, kept training in accounting till 2006.  I left the corporate world at 2007.  For me personally, I felt the system channeled me into that career, [after university] it was a logical step to go into accountancy. When I qualified even after a year or so, I wanted to be my own boss. I didn’t want to sit behind spreadsheets my whole life.

Andrew: I am the older one by a year. I graduated in 2001 and I spent time teaching. I was an EFL teacher. During my studies I was offered the chance to study in the ERASMUS programme. Similar to Antony, I had always envisaged a career in the city. But, going to France to teach English, really changed by perspective. I came back to London and taught ESOL and in my mid 20s I decided enter property. Everyone thought we were crazy because we launched in late 2007 during the credit crunch.  At that time there weren’t many companies providing homestay. There were one to two large companies and lots of bedroom operators. We thought we could make a difference.