Keller Williams’ new CEO quits as director of own KW franchise
Mark Readings' position as a director of KW Plus in Essex was terminated earlier this month.
Keller Williams CEO Mark Readings (main picture, right) has quit as a director of his own KW franchise at the same time that the company which holds the ‘master licence’ in the UK considers liquidation, it has emerged.
The news comes as uncertainty surrounds the future of Keller Williams in the UK with KW Worldwide announcing it will take over the licence.
Terminated
Readings’ position as director of MC Plus, which trades as KW Plus in Essex, was terminated on 7 March.
He was appointed CEO last August, after joining KWUK in 2019. He was appointed Regional Director in July 2022 following his successes as both an Operating Principal at the KW Plus Market Centre and as Chief Technology Officer.
It was announced at the same time that CEO Ben Taylor (main picture, left) was to become Executive Chairman.
Revolutionise agency
Established in 2017 in its current form, Keller Williams UK has been promising for some time to revolutionise estate agency, but after initially launching approximately 10 ‘market centres’ these shrank to six last year after several closed in 2022.
At the time, the company said some had their agreements terminated by head office, rather than franchisees deciding not to renew their licences.
Accounts late
The UK master licence holder is Grifettey Limited which trades as Keller Williams UK, with Taylor named in publicity material as its ‘leader’.
Grifettey Limited is also nearly three months late filing its accounts with Companies House.
Ownership
Earlier this month, the global business behind the estate agency, Keller Williams Worldwide, released a statement saying that an agreement has been reached between it and the current master licence owners “whereby KW Worldwide will immediately take ownership of the Master Licence”.
“This is simply a change to the relationship between the six UK Market Centres and Keller Williams – meaning that all KWUK Licences are now in a direct relationship with KW Worldwide.”
A spokesperson for KW Worldwide told The Neg: “Mark Readings is no longer involved at the regional master licensee level. He continues to own and operate an individual Keller Williams market centre.”
KW UK was unable to comment.
