Estate agency chain Hunters has re-launched its hybrid offering to go head-to-head with Purplebricks which the company says is a ‘brand new’ model that ‘compliments’ the existing branch-based network of over 200 offices.

Its existing Personal Agents model, which was first introduced in 2008 and changed last year, has now been overhauled significantly to create territory-based franchises that will enable agents to target buyers and sellers who want to communicate and transact online but who want a single point of contact via the Hunters brand.

Now known as Hunters Personal, this supersedes previous versions and includes a new lettings proposition.

Franchisees will now pay a monthly licence fee to use the Hunters brand that incorporate many of the marketing tools available to their branch-based counterparts, but which enables them to keep 90% of the revenue they generate.

“We have developed this model with extensive research to help the franchisee drive their business quicker and better with greater certainty and we have geared our franchise support departments to help to drive this new proposition,” says Maryam Bham, the agency’s Franchise Sales Manager.

“Since last year we have decided to re-work the whole personal agent model and therefore it is not a tweaked version but a brand new model which complements the Hunters brand.”

To help kick-start the launch, Hunters is offering a one-off incentive for the first ten new sign-ups, citing particular opportunity areas including the Midlands, the South-Coast and the East of England.

Shifting working trends

Glynis Frew (pictured), MD of Hunters, says: “Aligned to shifting living and working trends, our new model will allow Personal franchisees the opportunity to launch and run their own business on their terms, with the full backing and industry-leading support that Hunters offers.

“For those with the appetite to grow further, it provides an ideal foundation for franchise branch ownership including multiple branches. We have always looked to grow our people and this is the next step in that journey.”

Gareth Samples, chief executive officer of TPFG, which bought Hunters last year, adds: “The property landscape is forever shifting and to stay competitive, it is vital that we offer the flexibility that many are craving amidst the new working world.

“Hunters Personal personifies this, with huge potential for self-driven agents to make a mark on their territory in both the sales and lettings markets.”