With a lot of hard work and commitment, a franchise could get you where you want to go a lot more quickly, says Nigel Lewis, but which franchise might be the best…

George Jackson-Stops worked for Winkworth, Cluttons and Strutt & Parker prior to setting up his own company, buying agent GJS Property.

Halford Wetmore in Southwold is to be rebranded as a Winkworth branch although founder Daniel Wetmore is to remain with the business.

Think Property in Leigh-on-Sea has re-branded to Winkworth and says legislative onslaught and uncertain market conditions persuaded it to move over.

As a slowdown in sales continues at Winkworth in London the company is hanging its hopes on buyers and sellers returning to the market once political uncertainty has ended.

Internal data from national network Winkworth shows increasing number of women are rising up the ranks to run their own franchisees.

Winkworth has appointed Claudia Green as Head of Lettings.

Hampshire-based Sebastian Clarke is to head up efforts to help franchisees attract more business from developers.

Franchised estate agency chains Winkworth and Century21 have this week revealed a big rise in applications and branch openings.

Searches for hybrid estate agency Purplebricks increased by 18% over the past 12 months, research by consultancy MediaVision reveals.