Franchisees are continuing the trend to consolidate the industry in their local markets by buying up the competition in programmes supported by their head office franchisor.
In Southampton, Martin & Co has acquired more than 250 properties from Jonathan Rees Lettings – as well as four staff.
Franchisee Gavin Naish said he had been “keen to sink my teeth into an acquisition for some time”.
In Chelmsford, Martin & Co franchisee Stephen Frost has bought the 100-strong lettings portfolio of Owen Lyons, growing his business by 50%.
He has also acquired the agent’s premises plus four members of staff.
The team includes Owen Lyons owner Martin Orchard, who joins the Martin & Co team.
Frost, who was a regional operations director for Martin & Co before buying the Chelmsford business in 2008, said: “I have been looking for the right business to acquire for several years.”
Comments (12)
I guess we have differing opinions on that one as I’d say the day you set up a limited company with you and you alone as the director and owner you’re accepting you’re starting a business not a job! Just as you should choose when to get out if it’s not for you. I don’t see the bookmakers reluctant to take your money time and time again after a loss. Adults making adult decisions
Perhaps to add some balance to the constant EweMove bashing let’s look at a recent survey of the growing self employed whereby only 1 in 5 start up businesses int he UK survive past their first year and of that 1 in 5 a further 1 in 5 of those survive beyond 10 years. Until recently most EweMove franchises took a leap into this market and why are we surprised that not everyone survives, do they in any market? EweMove like any franchise provide a model to support and improve the odds of not being one of the 4 in 5 businesses that fail and I’d say they are achieving that and stack the odds greater in your favour than going it alone. Unfortunately you can take a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. It would be interesting how many of those who knock them have actually launched their agency or any business for that from cold and know what it takes to take a profitable share of a market… perhaps a bit of inspirational discussion might help those franchises not quite where they want to be yet
What you fail to acknowledge is that estate agency is a profession where education ,.training and experience are paramount .This is required before a leap into the unknown
Some of the franchisees who Ewemove have taken on havent run a business of any nature at all let alone any estate agency experience
Some never stood a chance and what about duty of care to the public?
Sure of cousre there are risks and failures to be expected but not the amount which have occurred and still occurring at Ewemove is unacceptable
EwemoveFranchisees have been enticed into the fold that with just a little hard work ,pererverance and help from head office handing over a franchise fee riches await ,That message is wrong
For many that hasnt been the case , far from it.
More importanly looking at their accounts and many who are currently trading with a number carrying over £50k persoanl debt some over £80k which is unsutainable you have to beg the question why isnt the shepherd looking after its flock
Its clear that for the health of the overall flock some should have been sent to the abbatoir sometime ago and not continued increasing their debts .There are at least 3 franchisees currently trading which this applies to
Disgrace
t
Nick Yes have to say I have spent some time trying to fathom the Ewemove story .
Initially I was looking for an excuse to invest in TPFG and spent some time looking at the individual franchises.,their instructions and more importantly at Companies House
Unusual in the fact that each of the original franchisees have their wn corporate vehicle so lays itself open to scrutiny .
Your site is certainly very vibrant and inviting .The overall impression being given with the “cuting edge “technology and a hand hold from HQ riches await .
Unfortunately from my research for many that has been far from the case.Looking through some of their CVs some of them never stood a chance from Day 1
No experience of running a business and hauling up at the local bank to borrow the franchise fee for their sheepy dream . Lambs to the slaughter
What did stick in my craw is that the founders took the money and run at he first opportunity whilst many franchises sold the sheepy dream ended up being fleeced
Call me old fashioned but I find that unacceptable. No amount of bleating on about some of the successful franchises has helped their plight If you think letting a franchise continue with over £89k of debt incurred is good for the business -think again Looking afresh today there are quite a few looking very vunerable
Nick You come across very well and no doubt doing a good job However you have inherited some legacy issues with a number of franchisees who have been unsuited to your model many of which have been left to wither on the vine as evidenced by the number of failures with devestating losses .
You choose not to address this which is understandable .Its not just an isolated case but a steady stream
Gloucester
Clearly managed properties which are let will not be shown on Rightmove or Zoopla as they are not available That is not in dispute .
The fact remains that since the move she currently has only 2 properties to let and zero for sale With 70 properties one would expect to have at any one time at least a couple come up for letting.She has achieved no traction
Well in respect of Corby the Ewemove Corby (Paul Warwick) accounts tells a different tale unless Companies House have got their facts wrong?
How many Ewemove franchise closures have there been this year and how many franchisees are currently carrying losses of over £20,000 ?
The one in our town was acquired / passed over (?) to another M&C franchise owner. The office in our town is now advertised to let. So the presumption is that they acquired it for next to nothing and will try to service the existing portfolio from far away.
Well TPFG have said they are franchise agnostic which might explain the migration of franchisees at Ewemove within the group The Ewemove Corby franchisee has recently migrated to Martins and Sheffield Ewemove franchise to Whitegates
Still too many franchisees crumbling at Ewemove. Too many franchisees carrying heavy losses in their accounts with too few instructions to service
A few over £50k and one franchisee whose latest accounts show a hefty £89,222 negative balance in their accounts with only a handful of instructions to service
Unsure how management addresses this but clearly allowing the franchiseee to trade with this burden does nobody any favours
Poole franchise went last month having been around for a number of years Following Bolton North recently and a number of others incl Stevenage, Birmingham and Cardiff
Its telling that they use the example of Gloucester as part of their recruitment drive for new franchisees.She transferred an existing business in January with a portfolio of managed properties
On Zoopla today she has 0 sales instructions and 2 properties to let yet…………
The Best Decision We’ve Ever Made
“We were an independent letting agency and we were struggling.
“Then I came across EweMove by accident and I can honestly say it’s been incredible for us.
“Our business is now growing rapidly. I have the support of an incredible team and both my landlords and my customers absolutely love all the benefits that being with EweMove provides.
“Joining EweMove has been the best business decision we’ve ever made.”
Nicky SmithEweMove Gloucester
I have the support of an incredible team and both my landlords and my customers
That is why she is struggling – only two landlords.
This was the post back in January on EYE
“Nikki Smith has rebranded to EweMove in Gloucester and is transferring her 70-property managed portfolio.
EweMove managing director (aka Head Shepherd) Nick Neill said: “Here are five people who have the gumption to make a big business decision at a time when lots of others are fretting about Brexit and an uncertain property market.”
“All five have decided that our ‘business in a box’, which includes property advertising on Rightmove and Zoopla, a 24-hour call centre, a top-performing website and eye-catching deliberately provocative branding for £1,000 per month, is the way to get a head start over the competition.”
Her big business decision has not translated into instructions yet her testimomonial states otherwise
Many franchisees have been suckereed in here some experiencing life changing losses on tthe strengths of a few success at Beverley Basingstoke etc
The number of failures unacceptably high and some trading on fresh air
John – as I have told you before. If an agent transfers their portfolio from an independent business to EweMove, those properties will not show on Rightmove as they do not need to be readvertised, as they come with sitting tenants who are very happy to stay where they are. So your sideline assessment, trying to use Rightmove data to reverse engineer some kind of business performance, is fundamentally flawed and perhaps reveals your lack of understanding about how portfolio transfers work.
I have also told you that Corby did not migrate to Martin & Co. He built his EweMove business to a position of great strength, acquired Martin & Co and then rebranded to Whitegates, for perfectly sensible reasons which I am not going to repeat here, as I have already explained these to you. But you post the same incorrect information again for some reason.
The fact remains that EweMove continues to grow, franchisees perform well, some take on debt to acquire portfolios with the support of TPFG, yet you seem rather oddly obsessed with EweMove which I can’t seem to fathom and your posts are becoming increasingly misleading and incorrect.
Back to school for you, I think, but as I have offered before, call me and raise any questions you might have so you can check your facts before you post. You have my contact details already so please do feel free to use them.
“Sitting tenants”
really?
Not sure where you are getting your information from but Ewemove Corby is Whitegates Corby now and Martin and Co Stamford is now Whitegates Stamford, Paul will be happy to take your call if you need further clarification.