FOR Denise Howard, her new venture, Smilesallround, did exactly what it said on the tin.

In its first three months, the estate agency in Fossgate, York, took more than 50 new instructions, with 13 sales going through.

No wonder Denise and her staff, which now numbers eight, are smiling as they enter the New Business of the Year category in 2006 The Press Business Awards.

For Denise this was her first big "landlubber" venture since she sold YorkBoat, the awardwinning cruise company on the Ouse built up by her and her husband, John.

Any potential customer who walks through the doors of Smilesallround is hit by how different it is from most estate agencies. No desks, no office clutter, just a huge reception area with wooden floors, coffee tables and comfortable sofas from which to watch three-minute video viewings of properties for sale.

Denise said: "The videos enable buyers to screen properties before arranging a personal property viewing. For vendors that avoids time wasting viewings and it means their properties can be viewed 24/7 because the videos are also played continuously on wall and window screens in branch."

Determined not to have the same constraints in off-the-shelf IT systems being used by the city's other agents, Denise invested £60,000 designing her own business system to hand over to programmers.

It has been a resounding success - user-friendly, maintaining a comprehensive customer and property database, driving the website and providing management reports.

Denise, who was awarded an OBE for her services to tourism, said: "Our aim is to leave a smile on everyone's face during what can be a difficult time of buying or selling a house."