Goodlord and Vouch join up to create new proptech force in lettings

Leading proptech company Goodlord has acquired referencing platform Vouch, bringing the fast-growing Vouch business into the Goodlord group.

The move will bring together two of the sector’s most dynamic players and create a market-leading technology business.

Founded in 2017, Vouch offers a fixed-cost referencing solution – saving agents time without the need for outsourcing, as well as providing access to commission-based revenue streams. Vouch has won plaudits for its platform and grown a strong customer base across the country.

Goodlord’s own award-winning software allows agents to manage the whole pre-tenancy process in one place, including contract generation, digital payments, referencing, insurance and distribution of legal documents.

Digital solutions

Both businesses are growing at a rate of more than 100% annually, with the pandemic driving increased demand across the lettings market for digitally-powered solutions that generate efficiency savings, open up new revenue streams and ensure regulatory compliance.

Together, the group will be handling over 500,000 references per year on behalf of over 2,000 letting agencies.

The Vouch and Goodlord platforms will retain their separate brand identities and customers will see service carry on as normal. The two businesses will, however, work closely to develop a wider choice of services and provide interoperability between the two platforms.

Vouch customers will have the opportunity to access Goodlord products, including plans to offer access to Goodlord’s popular insurance products.

Suite of services

Together, the two companies will offer agents a tiered suite of services – from one-off referencing needs to end-to-end software automation at enterprise level. This will ensure each letting agent can access the right combination of software, suited to their individual requirements.

The new group will also build improved auxiliary services for tenants including enhanced utilities, broadband and media switching.

Goodlord CEO William Reeve will be CEO of the combined group while Vouch co-founders, husband-and-wife team Simon and Jaime Tillyer, will continue to run the Vouch platform from their Sheffield HQ, alongside their team of 15 employees. They retain their roles of managing director and director of operations, respectively.

Fellow co-founders Kevin and Lynsey Gaskell will move on to focus on the separate family agency business, Shefflets. Vouch’s Head of Technology,  Dan Hawkins, will continue in his role.

‘Incredibly complementary’

Goodlord CEO William Reeve said: “We’ve been working hard to give customers a wider range of services and this merger will fast forward that process by at least 12 months. Our businesses and approach to growth are incredibly complementary.

“Jaime and Simon have built an impressive business in a very short space of time and I’m looking forward to working with them and their team on the next step of our journey.”

Simon Tillyer, MD of Vouch, added: “We have always looked to work with the best people in the market and this tie-up will allow us to offer customers a fantastic end-to-end solution alongside our award-winning referencing platform.

“Joining the Goodlord group is a fantastic fit both culturally and commercially and we are very excited about the future.”