Lee Wainright
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Property platform launches photo service that checks images for GDPR compliance
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LATEST: Crunch time looming for new OnTheMarket chief
Portal to announce first results since arrival of CEO Jason Tebb three months ago, and launch of rival Boomin.
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‘Virtual viewings without having to revisit a property during lockdown’
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Purplebricks’ bosses in the UK and US quit at the same time as revenue target slips by 20%
Hybrid agency says Lee Wainright and Eric Eckardt are to leave the business soon as predicted turnover for year slips significantly.
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Purplebricks gifts new CEO in UK stock options worth £400,000
Purplebricks has revealed that its recently-appointed CEO in the UK Lee Wainright has been given stock options worth £415,000 through the company’s employee share option scheme. Lee (pictured, below) has been given 100,000 shares in Purplebricks at an exercise price – i.e. the fixed sale value of each share – of £4.15p, although how long he will have to wait to cash them in is not made clear. Purplebricks is tight lipped about why Lee has been granted the stock options now, but risky start-up companies such as Purplebricks often use share options to make up for the higher salaries that senior executives might earn if they were working for longer-established, more profitable organisations. That, in Lee’s case, was Countrywide where he was Managing Director of Bairstow Eves and Mann London before joining Purplebricks 12 months ago, where he initially held the title of UK Operations Director. It is also likely that he has been given these golden handcuffs to soften the blow of what is a bone-rattling role. Only a few weeks after being appointed UK CEO, Lee endured a painful grilling when he appeared on a BBC Radio 5Live show that investigated some of its marketing practices. The…
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Purplebricks shares continue freefall despite robust radio defence of sales by new UK CEO
The Purplebricks share price has continued to tumble today dropping this morning by 10% to £3.74p a share, down from its all-time high of £5.13p. This follows a price crash late last week during which its share price dropped by nearly 15%, prompted in part – it is claimed by Purplebricks – by a market report from investment analyst Jefferies that claimed it is selling fewer properties than the 78% sales rate it currently promotes. The company’s new CEO Lee Wainwright (pictured, below) went public over the weekend and appeared on a BBC5Live radio programme, during which he called into question the basis of Jefferies report, saying: “Purplebricks wouldn’t be growing at the rate it is if we were only selling half the properties we list”. “The reason we’re capturing the imagination of consumers is that the old way [isn’t] working,” he added. “I’ve been in the estate agency for 26 years, I’ve worked on the high street, I know that the performance of Purplebricks is incredible compared to the high street estate agencies. “Customers want a better way, they want more transparency on fees and the convenience of 24-hour technology and they want a cost-effective way of doing estate…
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Michael Bruce steps aside to let former Countrywide exec run Purplebricks UK operation
Former Countrywide divisional manager Lee Wainright has been made CEO of Purplebricks’ UK operation as the pressures of running a global empire bear down on the company’s founder and previous CEO Michael Bruce (pictured, right). Lee has been the company’s operational chief since March last year and before that enjoyed a long career at Countrywide, which he joined as a school leaver and during a 26-year stint there rose to be a Divisional Managing Director, a post he held for 12 years. During his short tenure at Purplebricks Lee (pictured, left) has overseen the growth of its operational and customer service teams, a key plank in its attempt to persuade vendors and landlords that it is a ‘proper estate agent’ as the current ‘wedding’ TV advert proclaims. This has included Lee’s direct involvement in training up some 300 Local Property Experts, the launch of its new ‘concierge’ style customer support service based in Derbyshire, and the launch of both a Post Sales Support and Conveyancing Sales team. As well as promoting Lee to CEO, Purplebricks has recruited a former British Gas call centre professional, Sophie Fox (pictured, below), to run the Purplebricks telephone lines. “We are very fortunate to have…
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