Administrators Grant Thornton this morning confirmed that they are acting for the sales division of Douglas & Gordon.

It is unclear what will now happen to the staff working for D&G or the property deals that the business is currently handling.

A spokesperson for Grant Thornton UK said: “I can confirm that Philip Stephenson and Oliver Haunch of Grant Thornton UK LLP were appointed as joint administrator to Douglas & Gordon Ltd. on Friday, 24 February 2023.

Statutory obligations

“The administrators are continuing to carry out their statutory obligations and further information will be made available in due course.”

Foxtons sold the sales operation of D&G to CEO James Evans (main picture) in January last year just 11 months after it bought the business for £15.5 million.

D&G’s property sales division was loss-making when the deal went through, and it was clear that Foxtons was largely interested in its profitable lettings capability.

D&G has 15 offices in west and south London, where it is a well-established estate agency name.