Hybrid estate agency YOPA is on track to make a profit next year, its latest financial results reveal.

The company, which gained a new CEO in 2022 – former Purplebricks lettings chief Verona Frankish (main image) – has since seen its overheads drastically reduced and revenues increase.

Consequently, the estate agency is due to make a £500,000 loss, down from £6.1 million in 2022, which indicates a likely profit next year if its performance continues to improve year-on-year.

YOPA has also said it has ‘operated profitably’ during several months of this year.

The estate agency, which operates on a fixed-fee model without high street branches, has reported revenues up 22% during 2024 to £21.2 million, and is predicting a ‘run rate’ revenue of £27 million for this year.

Recent changes to the company brought in by Frankish include boiling down its shareholders to just two – the Daily Mail parent company DMGT and Savills; raising its estate agent headcount from 140 to 220, and strong growth within its financial services arm, Scout.

YOPA says it would already be profitable if it wasn’t for this higher headcount, which is part of a ‘go for growth’ strategy, which includes a ‘Associate’ model which enables individual agents to operate under its brand name, alongside franchisees.

Restructured

Frankish says: ‘When we restructured the YOPA business in early 2022 as I joined, we set out a five year strategy to take its then loss making activities toward profitability.

“The financial results that we have just filed at Companies House are the third such set of accounts since those changes were made and I’m delighted with the progress we are making as a team and the results we are delivering.

“In one of the most competitive sub-sectors in the UK property industry, the YOPA team are proving that offering fantastic consumer value can be delivered without compromising outcomes and via a sustainable, constantly improving financial performance..

“YOPA is a business in growth mode, whilst becoming more financially efficient, and we have listened and responded to the needs of our customers, our agents and the wider market.”

The estate agency was founded in 2015 initially as an online-only estate agency, by four young entrepreneurs Daniel Attia, David Jacobs, and Alistair and Andrew Barclay – of Daily Telegraph-owning family fame – all of whom are no longer involved. Considerable funds totalling some £100m have been invested into the business so far, principally by DMGT and Savills.