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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Romans and Leaders continue expansion with fresh acquisitions
Leaders has added to its network of 100-plus branches with the acquisition of Aidan J Reed in Loughborough and Quorn, Leicestershire, while Romans has followed the purchase of Campsie’s residential and commercial sales and lettings branches earlier this month, by acquiring Gregory & Company in Windsor. Leaders’ latest deal follows on from the trio of acquisitions at the end of August and early September, including Simply Lets in Worcester and Bromsgrove, Andrews Snape & Co in Bournemouth and Cullen Homes in Manchester. Matthew Light (left), Leaders’ acquisitions director, said, “We are delighted to welcome the staff and customers of Aidan J Reed to Leaders and look forward to working with them as we launch the Leaders name in Leicestershire. “This an ideal business for us because, like Leaders, Aidan J Reed’s focus has always been on providing a quality service and employing highly professional staff with excellent knowledge and standards of practise. In terms of location, this acquisition provides additional coverage within our existing Midlands region, complementing our six Derby branches and our Nottingham and Mansfield locations.” Aidan J Reed was owned and operated by Aidan Reed and James Etty who will now focus purely on their student lettings business.…
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Romans acquires Campsie
Romans Group completed yet another acquisition last week after it finalised a deal to merge with Campsie’s sales and letting branches. Established for over 40 years, Campsie, which covers Windsor, Staines-upon-Thames and West Drayton, will be fully-incorporated into the Romans network from Monday 5thOctober, with each of the firm’s three branches set to be upgraded to the familiar and customer focused offices seen across the Romans Group. Romans’ decision to buy Campsie fits in with the firm’s expansion strategy, and follows on from the acquisition earlier this year of Meldrum Salter Edgley in Guildford, James Griffin in Bracknell, SherriffMountford in Burnham and Atlantis in Reading. Expanding its portfolio of estate and letting agencies has been high on the agenda for the Romans Group with a number of acquisitions already under its belt since 2013. Members of staff at Campsie, part of the Orchard & Shipman Group, will be offered professional and expert advice on sales, lettings, and surveying. Shane Spiers, Chief Executive of Orchard & Shipman Group, commented, “Campsie has been established for over 40 years, so when the time came to sell it was vital we found an agency with the same core values and high standards our customers…
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Leaders continues to grow
Leaders, one of the UK’s largest estate and letting agents, has further increased its regional footprint by completing the acquisition of Simply Lets Ltd in Worcester and Bromsgrove last week – keeping the firm’s expansion plans on course. Leaders acquired Simply Lets after its previous owner Jon Sugden decided to sell his business and exit the letting industry altogether in order to pursue other interests. Sugden (left) said, “After deciding to sell the company, it was important to me to leave my landlords, tenants and staff in the safest possible hands. That’s why I chose to sell Simply Lets to Leaders, which has the expertise, experience and resources required to deliver a great service.” This fresh acquisition by Leaders follows on from the purchase of Andrews Snape & Co in Bournemouth and Cullen Homes in Manchester last month. Matthew Light (right), Acquisitions Director at Leaders, said, “We are delighted to welcome all our new customers and employees who have transferred from Simply Lets, Andrews Snape & Co and Cullen Homes. “These acquisitions have added new branches in key locations in which we previously had no presence, as well allowing us to grow our portfolio in some of our existing markets…
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Oktoberfest is coming!
Where can you find 30,000 people drinking over 200,000 pints of lager and eating 50,000 bratwurst sausages? At the Tobacco Dock of course, during the highly anticipated Oktoberfest London. 2015 will mark the first of many successful makings of this event, bringing Munich’s world famous German beer festival to Wapping, East London. With Munich breweries Paulaner & Hacker-Pschorr sponsoring the festivities, Bavarian authenticity will be in no short supply. The Bavarian breweries are two of the supplier to the original Oktoberfest and are shipping over 1000 barrels of traditional beer for the London happening. Those lucky enough to get hold of tickets will find themselves in the land of the merry; German beer halls ringing with the sounds of the world’s best Bavarian oompah bands playing everything from Ein Prosit and Fliegerlied to Queen and Oasis. As if that weren’t enough to look forward to, food will be laid on from German restaurant chain Hermann Ze German, offering wurst with sauerkraut, schnitzel and Germany’s favourite potato salad. Months of careful planning have gone into assuring that Oktoberfest London is nothing less than spectacular. Don’t miss your chance to be a part of the hottest event of the year. Running only…
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Foxtons set to significant increase London presence
The multi-award-winning estate agency has announced that it wants to open as many as 42 new branches across London and the South East by 2020, as part of its strategy to increase its market share within the M25 area. Foxtons, which currently has 58 branches across the South East of England, says that it will be increasing their coverage within the M25 to 100 offices. Openings so far this year have included; Barnes, Walthamstow, West Hampstead, Ruislip and Bromley, while last week the company opened two more branches in Surbiton and Croydon. To mark the launches, Foxtons has been offering its familiar 0% commission offer for a limited time period, in a bid to boost local market share. Andrew Weir, Managing Director at Foxtons, said, “Our expansion strategy currently focuses on the outer London areas which are continuing to show considerable growth, and we look forward to bringing our 34 years of knowledge and expertise in the property market to these local communities.” News that Foxtons will be increasing its presence will undoubtedly be met with fear and anger from rival agents in some of those areas it targets. Earlier this year, estate agents in West Hampstead, North West London,…
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Your chance to star in a new TV programme
Attention all estate agents with dreams of TV stardom. Retail expert, Mary Portas is back with her Channel 4 series ‘Mary Portas: Secret Shopper’ She’s here to help put customer service back at the heart of everything you do… Do you struggle to attract loyal clients? Do you worry you’re lagging behind your competitors? Could fresh ideas raise your profile and bring more clients through your door? If you run a Lettings or Estate Agents business, whatever your situation, Mary Portas would love to hear from you. For more information, please email [email protected] or call 0203 227 5987 Please Note: Optomen will use and store the personal details contained in your email and any further response in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, for the purposes of producing the Programme.
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Connells Group acquires another lettings firm
Connells Group has successfully completed yet another lettings business acquisition – Selective Lets in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. The purchase of the independent family-run residential lettings and property management business follows on from the recently acquired Cartwrights lettings business in Stafford, continuing the Group’s ambitious acquisition drive. Selective Lets, which covers Dunstable, Houghton Regis, Luton and the surrounding areas, wasestablished in 1986 by Stuart Brown. But with the company’s Founder choosing to retire, Connells were presented with an opportunity to acquire the lettings business which will be transferred into the Dunstable branch. Connells will also retain one of Selective Let’s key members of staff – Tom Spencer Lewis – who, with a wealth of experience, will assist with managing the transfer of the business and continue to offer consistency to landlords and tenants. Stuart Brown, the retiring owner of Selective Lets, commented, “After much discussion and deliberation, I have decided that the best way forward is for our managed property portfolio to be taken over by Connells. With around 170 branches throughout the UK, Connells has the specialist resources and expertise that will be essential for landlords over the coming months and years. After much discussion with their management team, I am…
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Belvoir announces major acquisition
Belvoir has added a further 31 offices to its network by acquiring Newton Fallowell in the East Midlands. The deal to buy Newton Fallowell, one of the largest estate agents in the East Midlands, is subject to completion later this month but does look set to go-ahead. Dorian Gonsalves (left of picture), Belvoir’s Director of Commercial and Franchising, described the pending acquisition of Newton Fallowell, which has its head office in Grantham, plus a further 30 franchised offices in various locations around the UK, as a “golden strategic opportunity” for his company. The additional Newton Fallowell offices will bring the total in the Belvoir network to 193, which will put Belvoir firmly into the top five largest lettings and estate agency chains in the country, according to Gonsalves. He commented, “When Belvoir floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2012 we made a clear promise to our network and our investors that we would reach 200 offices before the end of 2016. With further acquisitions in the pipeline, this puts us well ahead of our target. “The opportunity for Belvoir to acquire Newton Fallowell represented a clear strategic fit with our acquisition policy, and there are obvious complementary strengths in…
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Exposed agents to be investigated
The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has condemned the estate agents exposed in a Channel 4 documentary last week for offering to help foreign criminals launder money through high-end properties in London. Five London based estate agents were named by the Russian anti-corruption campaigner, Roman Borisovich, and Ukrainian investigative reporter, Natalia Sedletskan, posing as Boris and his girlfriend. The couple viewed five properties in the capital where agents stood to earn in the region of a reported £65,000 to £315,000 in commissions. Mark Hayward, Managing Director of National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), said that the exposed agents had tarnished the reputation of the industry in the public eye and has now launched an investigation into the issue. Hayward (left) said, “We do not condone the behaviour of the agents in the documentary From Russia With Cash and it is regretful that a small number of negligent agents tarnish the reputation of the industry as a whole. All agents should know that they have a responsibility to report any potential money laundering activities to the National Crime Agency and failure to do so, or to enable such an action, is a criminal act. “We take a dim view…
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The Negotiator Awards – two weeks left to enter!
You still have time to enter the UK’s most prestigious property awards. Due to huge demand from busy agents, we have extended the deadline until 31 July 2015 – so you have time to prepare your award-winning entry! Download the entry form and guidance by CLICKING HERE and learn more about the awards at www.thenegotiatorawards.co.uk Remember – The Negotiator Awards are free to enter. There are Regional categories as well as national, so you can prove you are the best in your area. Entering is very straightforward; you simply complete a short form and prepare a supporting statement telling the judges why your company deserves an award – full details and advice on preparing your submission are on our website www.thenegotiatorawards.co.uk. That’s it! There is no formality, no risk, no cost! The Negotiator Awards is absolutely free to enter – it is the only property awards event that carries no entry fee – another scheme charges £230 per office for the first category entered, £115 for the second and third categories entered – that’s £460 to pay before you even know if you are shortlisted. We don’t think that is fair, so we continue to follow our nine-year tradition –…
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