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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Agent job site off to flying start
Job to advertise? Or are you looking to move? The Negotiator magazine has launched a new job board – www.thenegotiatorjobs.co.uk – specifically aimed at estate and letting agents and the residential property market. It is the first and only dedicated job board of its kind serving UK agency and already has over 300 top residential agency jobs on it for you to browse. The site is promoted through The Negotiator Magazine and online via a database of 30,000 property professionals. The site is available to agents to search for jobs and for agencies to advertise their vacancies, by a simple sign-up process and online credit card payment. Job seekers can set up an account with email alerts to let them know when a job suiting their requirements is posted. The site also features careers advice and useful articles for candidates. For recruiters, a standard job advert costs just £350+VAT and there are options to upgrade to increase visibility and run combined print and online campaigns – a unique offering in the market. Grant Leonard, Publisher at The Negotiator Jobs, said, “Being sector-focused, this is the site for quality jobs in agency and we’re delighted it has had such a warm…
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Ex-Countrywide Chief joins butters john bee
Former Countrywide estate agency leader, Bob Scarff, has been appointed Non-Executive Director at butters john bee. Scarff, who starts his new role with immediate effect, previously built and navigated the estate agency business at Countrywide plc, the UK’s largest property services group, to success over 37 years, helping the firm establish an estate agency network of more than 800 branches nationwide. Having started his estate agency career as a Trainee Negotiator at Taylors estate agents in 1978, Scarff will now use his vast experience to help butters john bee expand on its own estate agency and letting branch network. The company currently has 17 branches throughout Staffordshire, Cheshire, Shropshire and the West Midlands. James Beardmore, Managing Director at butters john bee, said, “It is fantastic to welcome Bob to the board. Having worked for the UK’s largest property services group for more than 30 years, Bob brings considerable experience and knowledge of the property industry to his advisory role. We are proud of our local heritage and that we are market leaders in the majority of the areas we operate in. We plan to continue to expand our footprint both organically and through acquisition in 2016, and Bob’s experience of…
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Leaders continues on expansion trail
Leaders further increased its regional footprint by completing the acquisition of Southend-based Tudor Estates last week – keeping the firm’s expansion plans on course. The deal to acquire Tudor Estates, which was founded in 1959, comes just weeks after Leaders absorbed another Essex company into its national network. More Estate Agents, with branches in Clacton, Colchester, Chelmsford and Braintree, joined the organisation in January. This is Leaders’ third acquisition this year following a busy 2015 in which it spent over £25 million on 11 acquisitions and 32 new branches. Leaders now have 118 branches in total, including five in Essex. “Adding a fifth branch to our growing presence in Essex is fantastic news. We believe the county is home to an important property market with plenty of potential, Kevin Shaw (left), National Sales Director at Leaders, said. He added, “The Tudor team has gained a tremendous reputation in Southend over many years and we look forward to building on this. This acquisition gives us a chance to extend our coverage in Essex and roll out our range of services to more sellers and landlords.” The entire Tudor team has opted to remain with Leaders, and Luke Chiddicks, Sales Manager at…
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Foxtons’ profits fall
Foxtons saw pre-tax profits fall by 2.6 per cent in 2015 as the slowdown in the central London housing market, where prices are falling, adversely impacted on its business. The decline in profits to £41 million from £42.1 million was in line with expectations for the FTSE 250 indexed company, which previously warned of property headwinds in the market, causing its shares price to fall. The volume of homes changing hands in the capital fell by seven per cent in November 2015, compared with the corresponding month a year earlier, according to Land Registry figures. But the expansion of Foxtons’ mortgage broking business, which increased revenues by 31.8 per cent, helped to compensate for slower growth in income from sales as well as lettings. But in spite of the fall in profits, group revenue was up for the year to 31st December, rising 4.1 per cent to £149.8 million, supported in part by the opening of seven new branches last year, bringing the total at year end to 58. Foxtons plan to open a further seven offices this year, as part of a wider strategy to increase their coverage within the M25 area to 100 offices within the next five…
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Countrywide acquires Finders Keepers in Oxford
Countrywide has increased its regional footprint in Oxfordshire with the acquisition of leading lettings agency, Finders Keepers. The company, which was founded in 1972 by Mary Channer, who is the mother of the firm’s existing Managing Director, Dan Channer, offers a plethora of lettings services and currently managers more than 2,000 homes and boasts a 99.3 per cent occupancy rate. Channer said, “I started Finders Keepers at the age of 27, and now that the digits are almost reversed I feel it is time to retire. This is made easier by knowing that the great team will stay in place and I am confident that Countrywide will be great custodians of the Finders Keepers brand, culture and business.” The acquisition of Finders Keepers forms part of Countrywide’s strategy of expansion through acquisition and organic growth across the UK. Bruce Evans, Commercial Director at Countrywide, said, “The business will be fully integrated within the overall Countrywide retail division giving landlord clients access to our exclusive range of products and services, and the benefit of our strong and secure infrastructure to support both landlords and tenants.” Meanwhile, Countrywide has also made a significant investment in ‘The Buy to Let Business’ to help…
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Number of firms going bust jumps by 16%
Despite a noteworthy increase in house prices last year, the number of estate agents going out of business has shot up, according to a major accountancy firm, Moore Stephens. Residential property prices in the UK rose by 6.7 per cent in 2015, according to the ONS, led by gains in England, at 7.3 per cent, but this was not enough to prevent 185 agents going bust last year, up from 160 in 2014, as local agencies were squeezed out by larger brands and ’no frills’ rivals, such as online players like Housesimple and PurpleBricks. The volume of agencies closing bucks the UK trend of decreasing numbers of insolvencies, with the national rate of business insolvencies across all sectors declining by 9 per cent over the same period from 16,558 to 15,027. Moore Stephens believes that the fixed-fee business model of many online agencies is putting increased pressure on margins for high street agents. At the same time, Moore Stephens says that local firms are losing business to larger chains that tend to have bigger sales and marketing budgets and can break into new local markets by offering greater incentives, such as a zero-commission deal. Mike Finch, Restructuring & Insolvency Partner…
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Connells eyes further expansion
The Connells Group is on course for what could be a record year in 2016 after seeing pre-tax profits increase sharply last year. The company, which this year celebrates its 80th anniversary and operates almost 550 branches nationwide, said all parts of the business “delivered a strong performance” last year. Connells posted pre-tax profits of £62.5 million for the year ended 31 December 2015, up 19 per cent year-on-year and an increase of 72 per cent over the last three years. But it is currently not known what the revenue figures for the year was as the Group did not disclose the data. David Livesey (left), Chief Executive at Connells, described 2015 as “another stunning year” for the Group, with all parts of the business delivering “a strong performance”. He commented, “The housing market has not been without its challenges, characterised by lack of stock, so to end the year with strong profits and having sold more properties than 2014 and 2013 is a tremendous achievement. “We remain at the forefront of our profession and to maintain this position we made further significant investments into the business in 2015.” Last year, the company ploughed £25 million into branch refurbishments, acquisitions,…
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Female property professionals lag behind on pay
There can be no doubting the advances that women have made in recent years when it comes to professional development within the property sector, but when it comes pay, it is hard to get away from the fact that they earn less. The largest and most comprehensive salary survey of 7,466 UK surveying professionals, conducted online between December 2015 and January 2016 by the RICS and Macdonald & Company, has revealed that women starting out in property are hardest hit by the gender pay gap. Salaries of UK surveying professionals are now at their highest in nine years following an average year-on-year rise of 7.1 per cent in 2016, but the gender pay gap for new entrants now stands at an astonishing 28.7 per cent. Overall, the gender pay gap continues with male property professionals earning £57,509 pa, which is £7,000 more than on average than female counterparts at £45,689. While this gap has closed slightly, from 27 per cent last year to 25.9 per cent in 2016, the discrepancy is evident across all age groups and is most acute for those aged between 18 and 22. Those working in Greater London continue to earn, on average, the most at…
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Agents taking over London high streets
The online estate agent industry may be growing at a rapid pace but that does not mean that it is time to sound the death knell for traditional high street agents, especially in London where more than 200 new estate agency branches have opened on high streets over the past year, a new study has revealed. Despite a drop in the number of homes for sale in the capital, there was an 8.3 per cent rise in the volume of new high street branches across the city taking the total to 2,881, up from 2,661 compared to the previous year. The data compiled by Rightmove also revealed that there are now more than two branches for each of London’s 1,200 town centres, with all but one – Enfield – seeing an increase in the volume of estate agencies last year. The greatest hike in the number of high street branches was witnessed in Westminster, where the total rose by 27 per cent to 228. Islington was second with a 26 per cent increase, followed by a 16 per cent hike in Hammersmith and Fulham. Perhaps it is no coincidence that property prices in these London boroughs are among the most…
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Countrywide appoints new Chairman
Countrywide, has appointed Peter Long, the former Chief Executive of travel agent giant TUI, as its Non-Executive Chairman. Mr Long (left), who is also Chairman of Royal Mail, will start his new role following Countrywide’s annual general meeting in April, replacing the retiring Grenville Turner. He will work alongside Alison Platt, Chief Executive at Countrywide. He commented, “I am delighted to be joining the Countrywide plc board as Chairman and am looking forward to working with Alison and her team. The group has a clear focus on its customers as it executes its strategy and generates long-term sustainable shareholder value.” Alison Platt, said, “On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Grenville (right) for his dedication and significant commitment to the development of Countrywide during his tenure. As Chairman and previously as CEO, Grenville has been unwavering in his stewardship of Countrywide. Personally, he has been unstinting in his support and guidance for me and his counsel has been invaluable. “I am pleased that Peter has accepted the role of Chairman and would like to welcome him to Countrywide. I and the entire Board look forward to working with him as Countrywide pursue its strategic objectives.” Related news…
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