Michael Bruce Purplebricks
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Latest property news
Kenny Bruce battles trolls over his support for Boris tax plan
Purplebricks' and Boomin co-founder sets Twitter afire briefly with his support for the Prime Minister.
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Bruce brothers bag Zoopla exec to be Boomin Chief Operating Officer
The challenger portal has headhunted Andy Stewart, who is a long-established portal player with long stints at Propertyfinder and Zoopla.
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Hedgefund bets again on online agencies as it buys up Purplebricks stock
Toscafund has backed HouseSimple and EasyProperty in the past but has now increased its shareholding in Purplebricks.
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Shock announcement as Purplebricks CEO steps down and agency withdraws from Oz
Michael Bruce is to be replaced by COO Vic Darvey and is also considering the future of its US operation, it has been announced.
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Purplebricks CEO reveals he spent life savings to get firm off the ground
Michael Bruce says investors were reluctant to put money into the then start-up until he showed the colour of his own money.
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Purplebricks increases UK ad spend by 50% to £21 million as it aims at 10% market share
Extraordinary figures are revealed in latest annual report and account, which also reveal increased profits and turnover here, but continuing losses in Australia and the US.
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Purplebricks CEO sells off shares worth £16m
Read how Purplebricks CEO Michael Bruce has sold off shares worth nearly £16 million as part of his company's recent investment deal with Axel Springer.
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Latest property news
allAgents to make ‘significant’ announcement about Purplebricks next week
Estate agent reviews website allAgents.com has said it is to make a ‘major announcement’ next week about its battle with Purplebricks and has confirmed that talks with the online agent have broken down. Martin McKenzie (pictured, below), Director of Business Development at Glasgow-based allAgents.co.uk, says the talks fell apart because “our negotiations with Purplebricks broke down as we feel their business ethics are not in line with our own”. “However, there’s been a lot going on behind the scenes and we plan to make a major announcement early next week. We will not be bullied into submission by them, or anyone else.” The row between the two sides kicked off in September when allAgents.co.uk refused to take down reviews that Purplebricks considered to be ‘fake’ or ‘could not be justified’, according to Purplebricks founder Michael Bruce (pictured, right). But allAgents.com refused to back down despite repeated threats from the online agent if the reviews were not removed and, after replacing the Purplebricks account page on its site with a message decrying the company’s actions, began a crowdfunding campaign to raise £50,000 legal fighting fund. It reached £45,380 before its closing date. Peace talks allAgents said at the time that it would…
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Michael Bruce raises £50 million from City for Purplebricks USA
Hybrid agent Purplebricks has raised funds through a share issue to help the company break into the US market and launch Purplebricks USA. The funding move raised £50 million pounds via AIM by offering shares at £2.20 each, just under its current share price of £2.26p, which rose by 2.1% during late trading yesterday. The placing was over subscribed and raised several million more than Purplebricks had sought. The company says the cash will be used to set up operations in several key US states during the second half of 2017, and estimates the potential commission cake in the US is approximately $70 billion or £56 billion. The move into America follows Purplebricks’ entry into the Australian market in August last year in Melbourne and Brisbane, which by October it had deemed to be a “great success”. The company currently has 437 properties for sale on its Australian website, up from less than a 100 in October. But unlike in Australia, where the estate agency business is very similar to the UK one, in the US properties are sold in a way that could suit the Purplebricks model as many realtors there are self-employed. “We are confident that with our understanding…
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Purplebricks shares hit all-time high
Purplebricks shares hit an all-time high of £1.81p yesterday as City confidence in its hybrid model peaked, while shares in agents operating more traditional models such as Foxtons and Countrywide continue to struggle. Countrywide shares are still trading at around £1.75p, down by nearly three quarters on its 2014 peak price, while Foxtons shares are trading at 94p, down from £3.98p two years ago. Purplebricks launched in mid-December 2015 at a price of £1 per share and during the initial months of 2016 slumped to 74p before staging an eye-popping rally that saw it reach a peak of £1.75p as initial business results from the company were announced. The share price fell back in line with the rest of the industry as news on additional Stamp Duty, Brexit and a likely fees ban loomed, but then increased significantly during December after revealing total revenue growth of 159%. This week’s uptick in its share price is likely to be down to news from its recently-launched Australian operation, which a few days ago Purplebricks said was going well in Sydney and New South Wales, and that it had plans to launch in more areas down under too “We are confident that our proven success…
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