Agencies & People
News covering the businesses, activities, people and personalities in estate agency and letting agency and wider residential property industry.
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Winkworth about to pass 100-branch milestone
Winkworth says its branch network is about to go past the 100-mark when it opens three new offices during the opening months of this year. This is on top of seven new branches opened last year including colds starts in Cheltenham (pictured, right), Sunningdale and Surbiton in London, three existing agencies converting to the Winkworth brand in Kingsbury (in London) and Dartmouth and Torbay in Devon plus an extra branch for an existing franchisee in Milford-on-Sea in Hampshire. The company also says it has seen an unusually busy period of new enquiries coming in about franchising opportunities – up by 26% year-on-year during 2017. Winkworth’s current expansive activity is down to, in part, the re-hiring of former franchisee Michael Stoop in July who, after 25 years spent away from the firm working for several franchising giants including Martin & Co, is now working for Winkworth as a consultant. “Following the success of last year, we’re putting more emphasis on our expansion over the course of 2018 to ensure we have a strong network of offices supported by some of the most skilled people in the industry,” says Winkworth CEO Dominic Agace (pictured, left). “We’re always on the lookout for experienced…
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Fine & Country launches in Romania
Fine & Country opened a new office in Bucharest, Romania on 28th November.
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High point for Symonds & Sampson auction
Symonds & Sampson held a stunning property auction at the Axminster Guildhall on 30th November with a 100 per cent success rate.
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Former Countrywide exec joins Welsh proptech startup
Former Countrywide senior executive Vince Corley has joined Cardiff-based identity verification start-up Credas as a non-exec director on top of his existing role at Nick Dunning Associates, where he heads up its sales and financial services teams. Credas, which is headed up by former GoCompare executive Rhys David and launched in May last year, is a smartphone app which enables estate and letting agents to use facial and document recognition software to speed up and simplify identity verification, and also reduce the cost of complying with Anti Money Laundering (AML) and Right to Rent rules. “Customers are often put off by the verification hoops they have to go through to rent or buy a new home. Credas solves all of these problems in a simple app-based solution,” says Vince (pictured, left). “The cutting edge facial recognition technology Credas uses is amazing and the integration of this product into agents’ systems will alleviate the administrative burden and time wasted for both agents and customers alike. “It is a game changer in the market and I’m proud to help take the business to the next stage.” Vince joined Countrywide in 2004 where he held several senior positions including Acting Managing Director of…
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2018 will see the lettings industry consolidate, predicts Belvoir
The UK’s largest franchise firm Belvoir says a rush of acquisitions by its franchisees of competitor companies both during 2017 and into the New Year suggest the lettings industry faces a wave of consolidation as the fees ban looms. Belvoir says its lawyers are currently processing a “robust pipeline” of competitor acquisitions by its franchisees in recent months. The company says these acquisitions will be completed during the first three months of the year and that the “appetite for securing portfolio acquisitions reflects the entrepreneurial spirit of our franchisees who are adapting to changes within the sector and seeing opportunity for growth as the sector consolidates,” says CEO Dorian Gonsalves. Belvoir also says it helped its franchisees buy up 23 competitors last year, adding 2,264 properties to its lettings business. This brings the total number of properties managed by Belvoir Group companies to over 58,000, and helped increase its network revenue by £3.3 million, exceeding the £3 million target set by its board for 2017, and raising its head office fee revenue by £350,000. Helping hand The high number of competitor acquisitions has also been boosted by Belvoir’s Assisted Acquisitions programme, which encourages existing franchisees to buy local firms, helped…
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£17m raised at Auction House London sale
Cheers sounded throughout the saleroom for Auction House London at its latest upbeat auction as the hammer came down on its first lot of the day at almost £100,000 above the guide price.
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JOHNS&CO opens in West Hampstead
JOHNS&CO, a specialist sales, lettings and property management agent for the new homes market in London, is opening its first New Homes office located in West Hampstead.
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Buyers in France and Vietnam push prices up in Dorset
Sherborne, Dorset was a very busy part of the world on 27th October as buyers from all over the South of England descended on the town for Symonds & Sampson’s latest property auction.
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Fine & Country opes new office in Maresme
Fine & Country has opened a new office in Maresme, Spain, to service the Barcelona coast, the surrounding coastal areas of Sant Andreu de Llanvaneres and the city of Mataro.
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Lettings agent offers homeless a £2,000-a-month apartment for free over Christmas
A serviced apartment rentals company is offering a £2,000-a-month, two-bedroom flat (pictured, right) in Kings Cross, central London, free of charge to homeless people over Christmas. The company, City Booker, is headed up by Laurence Lemeche who himself was homeless during his 20s when he first moved to London and says he remembers being in a cycle of homelessness and unemployment – unable to get a job because he had no home and not able get a home because he was unemployed. Laurence (pictured, below) says at one point he slept in his car, but that this cycle was broken when a landlord gave him somewhere to sleep and now he wants to do the same for one of the capital’s homeless, who make up one in every 59 Londoners, according to housing charity Shelter. He hopes that his offer of free accommodation will inspire other landlords to do the same and “help someone else turn their lives around this Christmas”. Any agents or landlords who know someone who is homeless should direct them to Lawrence’s Facebook page to apply to live in the flat. According to Shelter there will be 307,000 people sleeping rough or living in temporary housing…
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