Six Douglas Allen branches to close following business restructure
Parent company Arun Estates says it has decided to create three super hubs in East London that will cover the same area as they look to reduce costs but not headcount.
Arun Estates, one of the largest independent estate agents in South East England, is restructuring its East London and Essex brand Douglas Allen which is resulting is six offices shutting up shop.
Explaining the change Aldo Sotgiu, Group Managing Director of Arun Estates, says that specifically for East London (main picture) they have decided to create three super hubs that will cover the same area as they look to reduce costs but not headcount.
THREE PHYSICAL BASES
Sotgiu adds that the three super hubs will continue to cover the same geographical area providing the same level of service from three physical bases in Woodford Green, Walthamstow and Chadwell Heath.

He says: “What this means is that six of the existing offices now become virtual spokes feeding into the super hubs with a number of staff from the existing network being transferred to one of the three super hubs where we’re anticipating much higher levels of activity.
“This will provide a massive opportunity for growth within the hubs.
“At the same time it will also provide a more efficient way of operating the business within East London where we have a high density of offices working in close proximity.”
He adds: “We are working to relocate all affected staff into the new hub model.
Currently there have been no redundancies.”
“Currently there have been no redundancies but the majority of staff will be relocated within Douglas Allen or offered opportunities within the Arun Estates network.”
SUCCESS
Arun Estates, which also includes agency brands Pittis, Wards and Cubitt & West, has previously changed strategy for Brighton Cubitt & West which it claims was a success.
Sotgiu says that ‘there are no plans to apply the hub model in other parts of Douglas Allen and that Arun Estates’overall business strategy ‘remains a modern, traditional high street operation’.
And he adds: “Indeed, we have an appetite for expansion should the right strategic opportunities arise, with particular interest to add to the two recent lettings acquisitions we have made.”