Breaking: Humberts is bought out of administration by its franchisees

The collapsed directly-operated part of rural estate agency Humberts has been purchased from its administrators, Begbies Traynor, by a consortium of its franchise owners trading at Humberts Group Limited.

Last month the directly-operated part of the business, which was bought by travel company Natural Retreats in May 2018, went into administration after running out of cash.

The franchisees are believed to be a group of at least four franchisees led by Humberts’ Norwich branch.

A statement from the new owners of Humberts says the sale attracted ‘interest from both national and international parties, and proceeded to a best and final bid, upon which a sale at an undisclosed sum was agreed’.

Lettings book

The purchase, which is for an undisclosed sum, includes the company, its goodwill, trading name, lettings book, and intellectual property of the brand.

The franchisees, which have been trading as normal as the main company entered administration, say they will issue a statement shortly setting out a ‘new vision for the company’.

Tim Stephens MRICS (left), who operates the Norwich Humberts office said: “We are delighted to conclude this deal and to take this long established and trusted brand into a very exciting future, particularly after the hedging of the Brexit negotiations and uncertainties for the economy prior to the Election.

“We are very positive about the next 12 months and look forward to building the teams and growing the business to its former levels and beyond.

“We would like to thank all Humberts’ clients for their continued support and loyalty and we look forward to working with them and new clients in the future. We also would like to thank the administrators, Begbies Traynor, for their smooth handling of the transition”.

Humberts Group Limited was established four days ago specifically to complete the purchase and has four directors; William Bankes, Simon Lewis, Duncan Ley and Tim Stephens.