Countrywide has today removed the name of Sam Tyrer, its managing director of retail, from its executive team.
Questions are bound to be asked about Countrywide’s retail strategy and whether this is deemed to have succeeded or failed.
Yesterday, inquiries from EYE about Tyrer’s rumoured departure went unanswered by the company’s press office, as did inquiries also made by us both yesterday and last week on a possible online acquisition which we understand has been made by Countrywide.
We understand from sources that staff were told yesterday about Tyrer’s departure, and today Countrywide issued a statement making clear that CEO Alison Platt will now take on responsibility for the estate agency side of the business.
The statement says: “Countrywide, the integrated property services provider committed to bringing people and property together, announces a new organisation structure.
“Alison Platt, CEO will focus on Sales, Lettings, Financial Services and Commercial. Himanshu Raja, chief finance officer, will drive Finance, IT, and Operations.
“Hamptons, Premier & City and existing retail territories will report to Alison Platt and become the UK Trading Team to drive market share and growth.
“Himanshu Raja’s existing finance team will be joined by the Operations team to become Finance and Operations to deliver operational excellence, cost leadership and cash agenda.”
There had been speculation that Margaret Longden could take on Tyrer’s role. She is currently business development director at “retail and London Countrywide” according to her online profile and is a director of Propoly – an online lettings business that Countrywide has invested in but apparently not yet used.
The entirely separate estate agency business acquisition that we have inquired about could also add a new dimension to Countrywide’s plans regarding the online sector. If what we have been told is correct, the acquisition could enable an alternative entrance into that sector with no branches. We have been told it is a £16m deal, and we believe that the business last exchanged hands not long ago.
Tyrer’s LinkedIn profile still describes her as Countrywide’s managing director of “retail”, and there has been no announcement to the London Stock Exchange – although that might not be regulatory news since Tyrer is not on Countrywide’s board of directors.
Tyrer – like CEO Alison Platt – is not from an estate agency background. Tyrer was previously with Carphone Warehouse where she rose to become UK retail and services director.
In her role at Countrywide, Tyrer was in charge of estate and letting agency operations – effectively taking over from Bob Scarff who was made redundant in the spring of 2015. He has subsequently described Countrywide’s insistence that estate agency is a “retail” business as “ludicrous” and “preposterous”.
Yesterday Tyrer remained listed on Countrywide’s website as being on the executive team, where it said: “Sam is responsible for delivering the transformation of Countrywide’s sales and lettings business across the UK.”
There have been branch closures, redundancies and reorganisations at Countrywide in the last two tumultuous years at Britain’s largest agent, and the launch of an online offering.
It was Tyrer who announced this in June last year, with customers being able to choose to sell their homes via a full-service operation or a cheaper fixed-price online service. The offering also allows vendors who have chosen the latter to switch to a full offering and get a refund on what they have paid upfront – around £1,000 – for the online service.
In its last set of results, Countrywide reported that over half its branches were now offering the online option.
In those same results, Countrywide reported a 98% drop in profits during the first half of this year and said it was cancelling its dividend. Residential transactions were down from 33,940 to 27,100.
CEO Platt insisted that Countrywide had made “real progress in extending our multi-channel offering”. However, she said that even in branches where the digital offering was available, over 95% of customers choose to use the traditional services.
Yesterday, Countrywide shares ended the day at 154.75p, a slight dip from its opening price of 156.75. Almost exactly a year ago, on August 24, the shares hit a 52-week high at 278.60p.
Comments (36)
As an ex trolley dolly (how un pc) I am sure Alison Platt knows the drill for abandoning the craft at speed when the time comes with everything intact. Surely it is just a matter of time before she gets asked to leave, Just hope for CW they do not leave it to late.
Like Nick Turner I remember the debacle the likes of prudential etc made when buying up agents at £500k/branch in the late 80’s because they were going to revolutionise the way Estate Agents operate and make a mint out of selling life insurance.
Well it did not work and the business’s got sold for a quid with a pile of debt to companies like Countrywide who turned them around and made a nice profit. Then the escalator that is the city demanding ever increasing profits gets the better of the sensible people who get pushed out for people with experience in retail and they end up ruining the business, it will no doubt get to a rock bottom share price where someone takes it over and the sensible people come back and the whole process starts over again.
What you have to ask is if Alison Platt was so good why did she leave where she was. They obviously did not think it was worth paying her more to stay.
I too remember the Pru et al, and they are still dining out on the new policy holders that the FS side brought in.
A long time ago my self and 2 others looked to do a management buyout of a chunk of the old Cornerstone business. A ben Brown who was the accountant at Abbey explained that by just delaying an interest rate change being passed on to customers in mortgage rates then it could make millions. IE BOE drops the rate today and Abbey drop it in a a month. With all of the new mortgages introduced via Cornerstone it comfortably made up for the losses on it,s agency business.
However the world changed and it then started paying proc fees to introducers and the Cornerstone chain was no longer needed.
Abbey are still dining out on those customer profits today.
Ditto Pru who took millions and ditto Nationwide who did the same as Abbey.
Agency was just the front for acquisition of new customers.
as for Platt etc. When Harry and Gerry left 3 people had control
One of them came from B&B who was nicknamed Dr Death. he was the guy who lost all of the B&B laptops as each B&B advisor took them and also had a guy with his own brokerage around the corner under his nose. One from the west country who gave a guy with 6 branch experience over 100 to manage and of course the originator of CPL. Under that regime some of the best MDs left or were made redundant and it left the brown noses. Platt and PB will win out but it will cost millions
The comment that 95% of customers choose the full service option when offered the choice is simply not true, in the area I used to work in one manager has taken on 19 instructions on the online option and only one choose to convert to full service. Financial suicide, they should have kept the online only option separate from the branch network.
Bairstow Eaves, Abbotts, Taylors and R A Bennet, I have been up against those brands at various stages of my career and I was respectful of them as I did my best to shut them down, they had some good and talented people who were trying to do the same to me.
I don’t understand how they have got it so wrong now, the acid test for me is a simple one, If I transplanted my team into the office of the weakest competitor on my patch with their team coming the other way to our office leaving the branding exactly as is I know that my existing brand would start to fall whilst the weakest would start to rise, give me 12 months and the positions would reverse
If only CW issues were limited to their online proposition.
The problems are far deeper than that.
They are trying to cut more meat off the bone on a company that has already had the meat removed. They are asking more from their staff and offering less support than ever.
Agency is changing, Independents can change quickly, fee, advertising, technology. Onliners are startups that do not need to worry about profit (for now) and throw millions at advertising and infrastructure.
CW is lost at sea, an aging infrastructure in an uncertain world, no real experience on where to lead it. Too costly to make the changes they need at branch level so gambled on investing millions on buying letting portfolios and an online option.
Letting fee ban will affect the original business model on buying up portfolios. Online has not taken off as they expected.
They are now trying to compete on a service level with independents but this does not work with the target driven sales environment they have harvested.
I know of two CW branch managers been with the company circa 15 years both handing their notice in this month due to the turmoil the business is in.
My friends who work up at H/O Say it is incredible that the majority of the staff NOT at branch level actually think they are doing a good job!
the company is worth circa 350 million. its a snip if run correctly. I am waiting for PB or another aggressive investor to buy it out and restructure the failure it has become.
Smile please How can it be a snip at £350m if their main assets -talented staff are leaving in droves no doubt with clients attaching to their coattails
They tried to flog LSH at the beginning of the year to reduce debt but failed The professional staff there are completely demoralised and arent prepared to have their careers jeopardised by those above them Share options are worthless CWD have financed the expansion with debt not equity and had to go for a cash call to appease the banks which further eroded sharehoder valueAt £350m its totally overvalued for a management buyout
You are just concentrating on one part of the business.
The right leadership you can change moral. Get better managers in recruit better staff …
Lettings book, FS, Surveying, Conveyancing and all the ‘mini businesses’ they have. Believe me 350 million is a snip.
Countrywide, valued at 1.75 Neymars
Sam Tyrer joined CWD in September 2015. A few weeks away from the two year point.
Anyone who understands employment law knows what this means.
What does it mean Keyser?
Under 2 years employment and she can’t claim unfair dismissal. Unless pregnant, other discrimination, etc.
You can literally give someone their P45 and no reason for dismissal.
If they wanted to get rid of her with over 2 years employment mean the full performance management route would apply which would take a long time.
pushed out
For me they had an opportunity to create the largest single branded network. It was clear that having multiple branches in the same location was no longer cost effective, by scaling down the network to say 600 branches, all under the same brand and investing in national advertising (as we have seen with PB) would (in my opinion) worked. They could have had a separately branded online only model running alongside it if they felt that operating in that sector too was important. It seems that a company that had great loyal staff and making decent profits, has simply lost their way.
To do this would cost circa 50 million.
If you look at there filled statements the independent names they have they value at 40 million. If they rebranded as ‘Countrywide’ they wipe 40 million off their value. stock prices would plummet.
I agree a great company with loyal staff and making decent profits have most definitely lost their way.
Oh dear oh dear. With A level results out yesterday when will these Plc’s realise the importance of history as a subject. I was involved with agency in the 80’s when the likes of Nationwide, Anglia, Prudential,Bristol and West and a host of others from the financial sector entered the market and left having spent and wasted millions of shareholders money. I remember when TSB entered the market place and we nicknamed them Try Someone Better.
Estate agency is not retail in the sense of selling mobile phones or other consumer fast moving goods(FMG’s). Yes it is retail in the sense of selling a product but that is where it ends.It is not a product that you as a sales business have bought or created. You are not turning a profit on raw materials you have bought to create that product. It is a persons most expensive asset to sell or buy and needs to be done by people with people and industry skills who have a complete understanding and time served experience of the business.
I feel terribly sorry for the staff within CW but it really is history repeating itself yet again and that is down to those in charge at the highest level.
Actually I can see what they are trying to do and in this ever changing world of agency they are possibly on the right lines, they are just using an agency that had its day in the 80/90’s and was always going to be a tough task….. I wouldn’t knock it as in theory it’s possibly the way forward?? Only time will tell…
If that is the case why in 2015 and 2016 were they shelling out huge cheques with borrowed monies to purchase “agencies which had their day” in the 80s and 90s ? Capital sums dished out at large multipliers based on previous profits history achieved by individuals who will no longer be on the premises .Big mistakes!
They are now saddled with the additional burden of debts incurred whilst they implement changes which will be carried well into the future That’s too big a price to pay
CW needed tweaking, they did not have to reinvent the wheel. That’s where they have gone wrong.
They don’t really know what they are doing, do they?
Lurching from one major disaster to another seemingly.
pb makes no money from online sales, it’s just a stock ponzi scheme. If Platt acted on boards instructions then they should be sacked. They should have also invented pb like they did rightmove , not be done random agent on the radio completely devaluing its business by telling customers they are only worth £1,000.
Whilst it’s a great shame that Sam Tyrer has left and it will be interesting to know why…but the suggestion that Margaret Longden could take the reigns is probably the smartest move yet. She understands the business, has worked with the Lettings/sales teams, has been instrumental in the growth of the online product. Maybe with Margaret running the whole sales/retail show the results will improve as the leader has first hand knowledge of the market and she already understands the online proposition.
Lets see! I hope with all the recent departures CW doesn’t go back to ‘it’s a mans world’
I think its pretty plain to see why Tyrer has left. The ink was still wet on the cheques paid out buying revenue expensively with borrowed monies to see it disappear out of the window when the bus was shifted into reverse with retrenching and no prospect of paying it back
Hundreds of millions wiped off the value of the company and disappointing results especially compared to its peer group .Just take a look at Savills to see how an estate agency business is run She ought to take Platt with her too
The gender of those involved shouldn’t be relevant. The ability of those are an absolute relevance. What is obvious from the results produced is that the ‘retail, hybrid,’ experiments, are ‘abject’!
This is NOT a gender debate nor a place for the Countrywide press office! An estate agency should be run by property professionals and the concept of retail is a farce. The unfortunate remaining staff are either inexperienced or old duffers with no other option! Like many it is only a matter of time not only selling it’s assets but also losing it’s key staff who know how to trade in difficult times.
The implementer of the ‘retail’ experiment (debacle) appears to have realised that she has failed. This was obvious to all who saw what was being instigated in the first 6 months of her tenure. In doing so she has caused structural damage that may be unrepairable. This all happened on Ms Platts watch so, when will she go as she cannot change the business in a positive way and as many have believed all along, is ‘clueless’ about the industry and plainly out of her depth ‘bigstyle’! Having seen at very close hand the damage being done by the elevation of people not up to what they are being asked/told to do, it is the lack of ability, leadership and understanding of this simple ‘cottage industry’ that has created what is a catastrophe. Anyone with the requisite ability to turn it around must have absolute control, be a giant in the business and have some very deep pockets to recruit top quality people, almost none of whom remain at the company. Start with those that have left I would suggest, assuming they would return, although this is doubtful. It may be that an internal promotion is on the cards as has happened previously however; another promotion of someone into a position of incompetence, will not reverse things. I cannot see any alternative than to get someone who knows what they are doing in as CEO without further delay.