Headcount reduced at Strike as it ‘adjusts to the market’

Hybrid estate agency Strike has confirmed that some staff are being released as it ‘adjusts to the market’.

The Neg also understands that the agency is planning to delay the filing of its accounts as it makes some cost savings.

Staff leaving are understood to be going by the end of this month, exactly a year after the agency rolled out nationally.

Sam Mitchell, CEO at Strike, (main picture) told The Neg the company was “just adjusting to the market,” and there was “no broader issue”.

Strike’s controversial free-to-use service generates revenue via referrals to third-party suppliers of conveyancing and mortgages.

Huge expansion

Early last year, Strike was able to fund a huge expansion of its business through an £11 million investment by VC funds, gathered by the firm’s chairman Alexander Gosling, including cash from Freston Ventures, Tosca fund, SPW One and Channel 4.

Market data from leading property industry research firm TwentyCi, released in February, showed that the top three estate agencies for growth in the UK were all hybrid or online operators.

The figures suggested that Strike held the second-largest share of the property market for new instructions behind Purplebricks and ahead of Yopa.

In August, Strike appeared to be benefitting with a surge in listings after a 20% increase in Purplebricks’ pricing and the scrapping of its money back guarantee.

Mitchell said then that Strike was listing close to 80% of Purplebricks’ volume, up from 60%.