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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IAM Sold partners with Fine & Country
The outsourced auction management provider, IAM Sold is now working with the UK network of Fine & Country.
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Andrews hires former Waitrose MD as new Group Chairman
It’s all change at the top of Andrews Property Group after it was announced that Group Chairman Jim Glover (pictured, middle) is to stand down with immediate effect and will be succeeded by Steven Esom (pictured, right). Unusually, Esom does not have a property background and instead comes with a career in the retail sector, notably at Sainsburys, Marks & Spencer and Waitrose where he was Managing Director. “Andrews Property Group stands out within the property sector as a firm built on integrity and deeply-held values,” he says. “This makes it a both unique and interesting company to join and I’m very much looking forward to bringing my skills and experience to play with the entire Andrews’ team.” Jim has done much of the preparatory work of Steven, transforming Andrews over the six years he’s held the chairmanship. This has included developing a strategy for the charity-focussed business, rebranding its logo and other corporate visuals and bringing David Westgate (pictured, left) on as Group CEO. Queen and county Jim Glover is not remaining in the industry and will be instead be representing the Queen in Surrey as its new High Sheriff. “Andrews has gone through a huge period of transition…
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allAgents reinstates ‘majority’ of negative Purplebricks reviews after negotiations break down
Reviews website allAgents has reinstated Purplebricks’ reviews on its site including “the majority” of the negative ones and half of the questionable ‘five-star’ postings that sparked a two-month spat between the two organisations. allAgents says it has not reposted half of the ‘five star’ reviews after the people who originally wrote them failed to respond to checks by the reviews website’s team, and that it will in future only be accepting reviews from vendors who have sold their homes via Purplebricks or “withdrawn from the agreement with Purplebricks”. “We will continue not to allow duplicate postings by the same client for the same transaction. This will give a more complete picture of Purplebricks’ service, as customers may feel very different at the end of the process, than they do at the pre-sales stage,” says allAgents’ Martin McKenzie. This would appear to end the three-month long dispute between Purplebricks and allAgents, which saw the hybrid agent threaten legal action over 26 negative reviews posted on the agent reviews site. Negative reviews Purplebricks claimed the negative reviews were fake and, after allAgents investigated each one, only three could not be verified as real. A further five were also taken down by allAgents…
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Purplebricks revenues in UK more than double
Purplebricks has revealed its interim results for the past six months ending October 31st which include UK revenue up by 118% to £39.9 million and a doubling of its Local Property Expert team to 650. Its overseas operations in Australia and the US are doing well too including revenue of £6.8 million in Oz and “solid progress” in the US where it now has 40 ‘local real estate experts’. But it’s most successful market remains the UK where Purplebricks has increased average revenue per instruction by 14% to £1,138. The UK operation also now claims to have 74% of the hybrid online agency market, with the next largest behind it, Emoov, a minnow by comparison. Online reviews One item sticks out in the results – Purplebricks’ reliance on its controversial listing with Trustpilot, on which it highlights a ‘five-star’ rating in all three markets. No mention is made of its recently-reinstated listings on allAgents. Purplebricks says that once the results are finalised it expects to report revenues of £84 million and £12 million in Australia. “We continue to win UK market share from traditional operators in what is a challenging market and consolidate our leading position with competing digital and…
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UK’s largest franchise agency group to become leading mortgage broker
Belvoir is to roll out its recent-acquired mortgage broker business Brook Financial Services across its 300-strong branch network of four brands – Belvoir, Northwood, Goodchilds and Newton Fallowell – in a bid to become one of the high street’s larger agency mortgage brokers. The announcement, which will help reassure City investors following Belvoir’s recent failed attempt to merge with Martin & Co parent company The Property Franchise Group, reveals that the roll-out is beginning with its most sales-focussed brand, Newton Fallowell. It has 39 branches in Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Rutland and Staffordshire and was itself bought by Belvoir in July 2015. Brook, which trades as the Mortgage Advice Bureau and is based in Barnsley at a business park (pictured, above), was bought by Belvoir for £2 million in July this year and its services are now available within 25 of the Newton Fallowell branches, including 17 new ones since Brook was acquired. This, coupled with more business from independent estate agents who use Brook’s services, helped the financial services firm write new business worth £570,000 over the past two months, putting it 40% ahead of its performance last year. “The roll out to the Newton Fallowell offices is underway…
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Beauchamp Estates merges with Hanover West End
Beauchamp Estates has merged with boutique agency Hanover West End. Hanover directors Alex Bourne and Richard Douglas remain as directors in the new business.
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“We’re not an online agent” insists EweMove Head Shepherd
The ‘head shepherd’ of estate agent EweMove says his business is not an ‘online agency’ and that nearly 10% of his franchisees have now opened high street stores. The latest to open is in Bexleyheath in South London (pictured), which like many of the company’s 110 franchisees is a high street agent who has re-branded – in its case from Apex Residential. Nick Neill, who became Managing Director of EweMove in June and also used to hold a franchise in York, says he believes its model is one-off in the industry. “I don’t like it when we’re lumped in with the online agents – we’re just chalk and cheese. There is no comparison,” he says. “Online agents in my book charge up-front for their service and leave a lot of the rest to the vendor including viewings,” he says. “Although a lot of marketing is online to generate leads, we do all the viewings and also do face-to-face appraisals, valuations and photos and also pre-qualify viewers. No contract “Also, we don’t tie any seller into a contract term and they are free to walk away at any time, not having spent a single penny on bringing their property to market…
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Hunters’ five-year OnTheMarket deal brings online marketing back to its HQ
The recent deal by stock market-listed estate agency Hunters Property Group to list all its franchisees properties via OnTheMarket.com (OTM) significantly changes the way its franchisees choose how to market their listings, it has been revealed. Until now it is believed that franchised branches were free to choose which portal they list their properties on and, at different times, have signed up to he OTM and either listed with Zoopla or Rightmove. But now that the ‘one other portal’ rule is dead in the water following the recent decision to demutualise OTM’s parent company Agents Mutual and float the portal on the AIM stock market, Hunters has taken the unilateral decision to move all of its franchisees on to OnTheMarket.com. A spokesperson for Hunters, said: “We can’t comment on the extent of the deal yet but we see it as a positive step for the whole network, which will provide the best solution in terms of creating exposure for our properties.” Portal choice Only a handful of Hunters’ franchisees list with Rightmove while 180 list with Zoopla out of its’ total network of more than 200 branches. “Some of the Hunters franchised offices have joined OnTheMarket on an individual basis…
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Strategic expansion for Adair Paxton
Adair Paxton, which has provided complete property services for 160 years, has opened a new office in Adel, North Leeds.
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LSL reports improving performance despite Brexit “uncertainty”
The trading environment for estate agents appears to be improving, if the latest trading update from the UK’s largest sales and lettings corporate LSL is anything to go by. Group revenue increased by 2.6% from £106.6m to £109.4 year-on-year and, although revenues from its sales operation within its 1,471 branches are down 9% over the past ten months, the rate of decline has been slowing and sales dropped by just 1% over the past three months. The company’s overall performance was given a lift by its financial services division where revenues increased by 16% and lettings, where revenues grew by 4% from January to October. Guild sale Its balance sheet is also looking healthier after LSL disclosed that the sale of its investment in the Guild of Property Professionals/eProp Services made it £5.6 million. LSL, which owns Marsh & Parsons, Your Move and Reeds Raines, has also reduced its debt over the past year, down by £1.2 million from £43.6 million. Although the company notes in its trading statement the recent Stamp Duty changes for first time buyers support for more house building in the UK within the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget, LSL is far from bullish. “Market activity levels have…
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