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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Martin & Co embraces hybrid opportunities from Ewemove acquisition
Letting agency franchise giant Martin & Co enjoyed a ‘robust’ 2016 and has put the business model and technology of recently-acquired Ewemove.com at the heart of its operations, its latest trading update reveals. Martin & Co increased its revenue by 15% last year to £8.2 million during 2016 and added 90 branches to its network as well as increasing the number of tenanted properties it manages by 3,000 to 48,000. Looking to the future, CEO Ian Wilson (pictured) also says that the fees ban is unlikely to be “significantly impacting our business”. The group says its robust performance has taken place despite the challenging market conditions following the Brexit vote, a result it has managed by growing fees and lowering costs and also the inclusion of a modest contribution from hybrid agency Ewemove.com, which is acquired in September 2016 and that now has 96 franchisees. The trading update also says that the Group is also importing some of the intellectual capital of EweMove into its five traditional high street brands, and that it will be launching new websites with a facility for customers to book valuation appointments in real time. “The acquisition of EweMove marked an important milestone for the…
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Nick Dunning buys up 26-branch Townends and Regents network
Former Countrywide director Nick Dunning has bought the parent company of high street agents Townends and Regents for an undisclosed sum. The purchase was made through his recently-established company Nick Dunning Associates, which he set up after leaving Countrywide where he was its commercial director. His role there was to run its highly profitable lettings business, but he also operated an aggressively acquisitional programme, buying up 100 businesses during his tenure at the PLC. Nick’s latest business purchase is of Badger Holdings Group, which has 26 branches in London and the Home Counties and two brands. “The Badger Holdings Group is an extremely well run business with an excellent reputation and a solid record of profitability,” says Nick Dunning (pictured). “It is a great platform from which to grow our business in London and the Home Counties. “We will be looking for the management team to drive growth organically in all its business divisions but also through strategic acquisitions and expanding their branch footprint.” Badger Holdings Group’s management team including CEO Seamus Kavanagh will be remaining “to drive the business forward”, says Nick Dunning. Nick Dunning Associates has a sizeable fighting fund to buy up letting agents across the UK…
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Fine & Country’s strategies announced at Conference
Fine & Country’s strategies for 2017 were announced at its conference, gala dinner and annual awards, which was held at The Vox conference centre in Birmingham on Friday 27th January. Over 150 estate agents attended, including international representatives from as far afield as Qatar, Italy, Portugal, Hungary, and Malta. Marketing strategy Fine & Country CEO David Lindley announced a strategy for 2017, which included the marketing plans. After the success of Fine & Country’s first television advert in 2016, the company will return to the screen in 2017, showing the advert on the Channel 4 Group throughout March, April and May. The advert will run again in the autumn and Fine & Country continues to advertise in key print publications such as the Sunday Times, The Times and The Telegraph, as well as improving their comprehensive online strategy. Many improvements are being made to the website, including a 24/7 live chat feature powered by Yomdel, an instant valuation tool and lifestyle features have been added to property pages, showing the location of nearby shops, schools, restaurants and more. New services In 2017, features will be added to allow clients to mark their preferred time for a valuation or viewing. Website…
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Connells: performance tempered by Brexit volatility
Connells’ performance in 2016 was described by Group CEO David Livesey as, “somewhat tempered by Brexit volativity,” as the Group’s Q4 report showed activity levels were “influenced by a marketplace that was continuing to recover from some of the challenges of Q3.” However, while viewings were up, the number of offers made was down. Sales were also down by 2 per cent for the year, compared to 2015, but Connells said that it had been instructed on more properties, registered more applicants and seen another record performance in new homes sales. Land & New Homes Connells is doing well in the Land & New Homes sector, with a pipeline of 9,000 new homes. Group Land Director, Roger Barrett, said, “As predicted in our previous Market Report, sales moved forward in Q4 2016 by 15 per cent on the Q3 2016 performance. This improvement reinforced the underlying strength in the land and new homes marketplace and, as such, we completed a number of land transactions in Q4 where demand for short and medium term opportunities remains strong. “The new year has started positively, helped by the fact that new home registrations increased at the end of last year – 15,237 registrations in…
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Foxtons brushes aside worries with two new offices
Foxtons has announced that it is to open two new branches in London next month, despite recent disappointing sales results. The company’s two new branches are both to be in traditionally football-focussed areas of the capital. These are Wood Green, next door to Tottenham Hotspurs’ ground at White Hart Lane, and Wembley. This brings the company’s total to 67 within London and, the company says, is in line with its ‘organic growth strategy’. Foxtons opened seven offices last year and these, like the latest two, have mostly been in London’s outer suburban areas where, the company believes, there are the greatest opportunities. Earlier this month the company reported that its profits for 2016 were likely to be down 45% and revenue down 11%. The company at the time blamed a ‘subdued’ market. This hasn’t dented confidence within the senior team, it would seem. Andrew Weir, Foxtons Sales Managing Director, says: “We are thrilled to be continuing our planned expansion with the launch of our new London offices. “Last year saw us proving our commitment to customer service by achieving an average rating of 4.6 out of 5 across all of our branches on Google reviews and the highest rating of…
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Auction Aimee’s progress
Aimee Rossiter has been promoted to assistant auction manager at SDL Bigwood.
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Purplebricks shares hit all-time high
Purplebricks shares hit an all-time high of £1.81p yesterday as City confidence in its hybrid model peaked, while shares in agents operating more traditional models such as Foxtons and Countrywide continue to struggle. Countrywide shares are still trading at around £1.75p, down by nearly three quarters on its 2014 peak price, while Foxtons shares are trading at 94p, down from £3.98p two years ago. Purplebricks launched in mid-December 2015 at a price of £1 per share and during the initial months of 2016 slumped to 74p before staging an eye-popping rally that saw it reach a peak of £1.75p as initial business results from the company were announced. The share price fell back in line with the rest of the industry as news on additional Stamp Duty, Brexit and a likely fees ban loomed, but then increased significantly during December after revealing total revenue growth of 159%. This week’s uptick in its share price is likely to be down to news from its recently-launched Australian operation, which a few days ago Purplebricks said was going well in Sydney and New South Wales, and that it had plans to launch in more areas down under too “We are confident that our proven success…
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Estate agent wins Channel 4’s Come Dine With Me
James Sawyer, who works at the Bury St. Edmunds branch of estate agent Whatley Lane, has proved that he is the host with the most, winning Channel 4’s Come Dine With Me competition. James produced a fine dining menu with wine pairing for each course. “I have a passion for cooking, enjoy watching the show, entertaining guests and meeting new and interesting people. Channel 4’s casting team called the office one day asking if I knew anyone who would be interested in competing… the rest is history,” he said. “I didn’t expect to pick up the £1000 cash prize, let alone be selected to go on it and made friends along the way too. Though each contestant was given £125 for food and drink, most of my winnings covered the cost of ingredients and copious wines on the night.” The competitors James had to cook for the three other contestants, wedding DJ Phil Swapping, American housewife Julie Schindler and tennis enthusiast Paula Brown, at his home but he says he did not expect to win because he though one of the others had done so much better, but his fellow diners thought otherwise. “I thought she had it in the bag,”…
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SDL Bigwood auction on the money
It was double your money time as the latest SDL Bigwood auction raised £8.8 million.
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KFH takes prime position in Bayswater
KFH has unveiled its brand new premises at 186 Queensway, Bayswater, London, with sales and lettings managers Paul Hyman and Jonathan McCormack overseeing the move.
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