Here at Donaghy and Beyler our dedicated team of individuals are from many walks of life and many different countries, which ultimately gel into the best Estate Agents team in Northern Cyprus.

Donaghy and Beyler have now grown into the largest Estate Agents in the TRNC with 4 offices, located in Kyrenia, Catalkoy, Ozankoy and Famagusta. Our team has many different nationalities from Turkish Cypriot to British to Australian to Bulgarian to Norwegian, all English speaking and many Turkish speaking, all tailored to deal with the needs of our clients.

My name is Mark Weavers and here is my story regarding what bought me to Northern Cyprus.......

Ok, so it was just over three years ago when as an Estate Agent trading in the UK for over 17 years, I saw an advert for a Estate Agency manager for Donaghy and Beyler in Northern Cyprus in a magazine called the Negotiator, to be fair, due to certain personal aspects that were happening in my life, I decided (as a whim!!!) to apply for the position, so I promptly submitted my CV, thinking I would not hear anything, then a week later I was called to an interview in sunny Wimbledon where I met one of the partners, I suppose they must have been impressed with me as within two weeks I was whisked away to North Cyprus for part two!! 

This then entailed pretty much 48 hours of partying, oh and another interview with the other partner Hayat Beyler.

All went really well and I was asked to make a quick decision about joining the team, in truth I was extremely nervous, I had a great job in the UK and being born and bred in Ipswich and having worked there all my life, it was a huge decision, couple this together with the most important aspect that I am the proud father of a 11 year little girl (Danielle) and a 10 year old boy (Joshua), you can understand that the whim turned into something far more serious.

I had other things to consider other than my children and job, I had a home which I had renovated in Ipswich, many friends and family, WATCHING THE EXTREMELY FAMOUS TRACTOR BOYS!!, in fact having lived in Ipswich all my life, I was the sort of person that got a nose bleed if I left the town!!!

I remember this period of my life extremely clearly, the thought that went into the possible move was intense, it was made easier however, by the people that I met on my weekend visit to the TRNC, the staff and partners especially at D and B.

Well, getting back to the visit, I then traveled home on the Sunday; I was back in my home in Ipswich by the afternoon and was knackered. I had a lot of thinking to do.................

No-one, but no-one (apart from my mum!!!!) knew about my visit to North Cyprus, so I guess there was no other opinions that I could seek, it did not matter.....

I went into work on the Monday and resigned from my job and left with their best wishes 2 weeks later. I then had 2 further weeks to get organised as well as by far the hardest part....saying goodbye to my children whom had moved from Ipswich to Leicester.

The last 2 weeks went quickly, getting the house organised, deciding on my luggage, saying goodbye to my friends and family and on the 2nd last night having a house party, packing in 55 friends to send me away happy.

By the last day, I was getting excited; my mum drove me to Stansted with my house in a suitcase ready to embark on totally new life. I waved me mum goodbye, she had tears in her eyes (I think because she thought she would never be rid of me!!!) and off I went.

I hopped onto the plane and away we went, this was when it hit me 'there's no going back now!!!!'

After a straightforward flight, I had arrived at Ercan airport, it was 8pm on a Friday night, and I was met at the airport and immediately taken to my new furnished apartment (stopping only for cigs and wine en-route!!). The apartment was fab, a huge balcony with views looking at the enormous Kyrenia mountain range and a clear night sky with bright stars, this I though was heaven.

After the boring task of unpacking, I settled down in front of the TV with my bottle of wine and watched a film, I had arrived.......

 The Saturday was casual, meeting all the staff and having a look around the beautiful and historic harbour, I also visited some new homes sites to get an early feel about what it was all about.

The night was out with the partners who wined and dined me at one of the many local restaurants, and then it was back to the apartment to text friends and family to let them know I was ok. In hindsight it was funny, as I knew all the people that knew me, thought that I would be back to the UK within 3 months, boy were they to be proved wrong!!!

I settled extremely quickly into work and life in general, the things that struck me the most was the people, the Turkish Cypriots are a lovely race, extremely welcoming and courteous, something that I think is sadly lacking generally.

Within days I had made some great new friends, all of which are still here today.  Then the icing on the cake happened out of the blue,  I met the most gorgeous girl Fiona who was soon to become my wife.....

I married last June at St Andrews Church, Girne,  North Cyprus on a super sunny day, then we had a reception on the roof top of a local hotel (the Malpas Hotel, Catalkoy) overlooking Kyrenia, it was amazing.

So, it is now 3 years on since I have arrived and I can safely say that I have never looked back, yes of course there are things that I miss about England, but when I consider the lifestyle that I now have, it is no competition.  In addition, Donaghy and Beyler has grown from 1 office when I arrived to 4 at present and my new role as Sales Director is to look after all of them, so I am a busy bee!!!

The last three years have had some ups and downs, but on reflection my decision to move on with my life was the right one, I consider myself to be a lucky man, a lovely new wife (who's lovely daughter Megan has now moved here too!!!), a beautiful home, a new dog!!! Oh and various cats!!! And of course a great circle of friends of different nationalities, Israeli, Turkish, English, Scottish and Russian to name but a few.

North Cyprus has much to offer, excellent scenery and weather, beaches, diving, huge numbers of restaurants, great social life and also many other countries to visit that are nearby, Turkey, Israel, Dubai to name a few.

So, this is my story, I guess mine is a good one, in that I moved here by myself and made it work (with of course the help of my employers, staff and friends!!!) I have learnt much about our country and the people in it, the history and I enjoy every bit of it.

The above is just a summary of my experiences leading up to and being here, there is much more to tell!!!

Thank you for reading my story and let me know if there are any items of information that you think that I can help you with.

Mark D Weavers MNAEA
Sales Director

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www.donaghyandbeyler.com