In an announcement to the City this morning, OnThe Market has outlined the steps it is taking to preserve cash and support agents. It said:
At 31 March 2020 the Company had cash of £8.5m and, excluding deferred creditor payments, no borrowings. The key initiatives outlined below will help us to conserve cash in these challenging times whilst supporting agents and are designed to allow revenues to cover ongoing costs.
The measures we are taking include:
As previously announced, a 33% discount of fees to agents for 3 months
Selective furloughing of some colleagues
Voluntary waiver of 20% of remuneration for 3 months by the Board, the executive management and the majority of other employees who continue to work remotely
A reduction in temporary and sub-contracted IT workers
Curtailment of discretionary marketing
Certain agreed deferments of creditor payments
In this current environment, it is difficult to predict the evolving impact of COVID-19 and therefore we are suspending financial guidance until greater clarity exists.
As a result of the ongoing uncertainty, it is too early to give guidance on the potential impact of COVID-19 on the Group in the current financial year to 31 January 2021.
While revenues will be impacted in the short-term, OnTheMarket considers it of fundamental importance to support agents through this difficult period and the Group will conserve cash through the careful management of costs.
As a prudent measure, the Company is suspending its financial guidance until greater clarity exists on the impact of COVID-19.
Clive Beattie, Acting Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“Our main concern at this time is for the health and safety of all our colleagues and I would like to thank them for their dedication and professionalism during this time.
“We continue to do all that we can to support our customers, many of whom are also our shareholders, through this period.
“Agents across the country are reconsidering their portal marketing choices and we continue to engage with agents attracted by our unique agent ownership model and our strategic commitment, as the agents’ portal, to a policy of low, fair pricing, both in the short term and sustainably into the future.
“The steps we are taking to conserve cash and to assist agents are appropriate to ensure we weather the current crisis and come through ready to provide our customers a market leading, fairly priced portal service.”
Comments (44)
Anything about the portals sends agents into a frenzy! Makes me chuckle to be honest!!
Perhaps you’d like to go back to £300 a page plus newspaper adverts every week?
Imagine if RM & Z merged then you’d be proper f*ck#d!!
Richard …..that stands for D*#£ doesn’t it?
No need to imagine Richard …..your name makes me chuckle too 🙂
Difference is if we were all still in the papers now we could pull our advertising and keep the dosh in our accounts.
I am still paying RM over £300 per branch for advertising I do not need.
I agree see my comments above about why we stayed with RM (for now)
Win win?
I joined On The Market from recommendation.
We have been offered £0 discount as their excuse is we are already on a discounted rate. They are currently our most expensive portal. We were on a discounted rate with Zoopla and Rightmove as well and still we received support.
Our address is currently wrong and has been for two months on the website and despite asking customer services several times to change it.
We had an erroneous invoice sent out and nobody could explain why.
The leads we currently get from them are not of the same standard as the other two portals and are usually general “I want to buy a house leads” which in most cases aren’t even in the area we cover.
Their customer service is quite simply awful and due to their behaviour alongside lack of support we will be cancelling with them at our earliest opportunity.
….therealpropertyexpert’
If this is your reason for cancelling OTM ……then photocopy it and send your cancellation to Rightmove, they fully merit the same derisory assessment on “service?”
“The leads we currently get from them are not of the same standard as the other two portals and are usually general “I want to buy a house leads” which in most cases aren’t even in the area we cover.
Their customer service is quite simply awful and due to their behaviour alongside lack of support we will be cancelling with them at our earliest opportunity.”
I don’t have much of a view of Zoopla, other than a reply from a plonker at Zoopla that went along the lines of ……”we, like Rightmove don’t……” ……and that pretty much sums up Zoopla ……happy to sniff the backside of Rightmove.
How on earth did Our Industry end up in this Portal Mess? ……and we paid to make and maintain the mess, and pay more each year….. and so it goes.
I’ll be interested to see “SayNOtoRightmove” explode back into the Headlines having achieved greatness (fill in your own definition), however, sadly I think it’s leader has his own agenda foremost ……albeit Rob, I’ll be delighted to acknowledge my assessment was wrong and you/your group have delivered.
OTM is rudderless …….when they needed someone at the helm, they threw their “Captain?” (fill in your own description here!) overboard however they forgot to send a cable for a New Captain.
The Portal Landscape needs detonated and a Phoenix arise from its ashes …..however like smileplease and others ……who/from where/when/what cost/what collective support/strategy/future etc.
I’ll say this though, the “monkeys” that run the portals? ……they have got the organ grinders paying for their p£ss poor service …….it’s long overdue that real estate agents were closely involved rather than being led blindly by their noses …..and wallets!
Thank the Property Lord many of us are in charge of our own businesses and we live or die by our own decision making ……not withstanding the Covid19 hand grenade lobbed into play.
I am an original Gold member I have tried to make contact with OTM but no one is coming back to me. We have had absolutely no contact for months from them and only heard about their derisory offer via a third party and now to hear the board are taking a 20% pay cut is just laughable . In that statement what are they actually doing for their clients / shareholders. I have always supported the concept of an agents only website, in my hour of need I need their support a 33% discount is not support but a slap in the face.
Who thinks we’re going to see Rightmove & Zoopla furloughing staff and cutting executive pay?
Clearly OTM doesn’t have the financial power of RM or Zoopla so we’re not comparing apples with apples.
Those “regulars” in the PIE Tavern know me as one of the original OTM Gold Members, supportive of V1, against V2 ……and I finally left OTM in January after my 5 Yr contract expired.
RM are not going to change their ways, their 75% reduction was forced upon them following uproar by its paying agents. It may well be C19 will shatter RM’s “relationship?” with agents as we are weaned off RM by the market we find ourselves in. Zoopla? …..they have made an effort for sure however I don’t see where they fit as they lack a genuine interaction with agents ……in simple terms we pay RM to dominant Our Industry.
OTM …..visually as a property advertising portal functions well. If the current “downtime” is put to good use and an effective strategic overhaul is formed and put into play quickly, then they could rise from their smouldering ashes ……however, the Bell Tolls loudly for the “Board Members taking just a 20% reduction?!!! …….that action alone signals OTM remains out of touch with Our Industry and no more than an additional portal. Will C19 be the full-stop in OTM’s life story? I sincerely hope not however it needs to get its head out of its portal @ss.
The OTM Statement has almost nothing to do with how it is currently “supporting agents?’ ……it simply provides clarity to the city/shareholders how it is staying afloat.
Clive Beattie of OTM comments “ and we continue to engage with agents attracted by our unique agent ownership model…..” How do you do that by furloughing your OTM Reps Clive? ……just banging out emails? ……yet The Board etc feel they can remain sucking up 80% of their salary, unless they are almost all on furlough? Who knows Clive but yet another “gaping goal mouth” before you is missed.
What is for sure ……most agents at the coal face of “this” are digging in and working to find their way to emerge into the daylight, Post C19 …..and I offer all of them my best wishes ……see you on the other side of this.
The Bell continues to Toll for Rightmove who will pay heavily for making a monumental WRONGmove.
There was a rumour the other day that RM have offered the multiples an extended free offering…….
If you were RM, you’d do the same wouldn’t you J1? I know I would, keeping your big supporters sweet and $$$king everyone else off is just an extension of divide and conquer. Trouble is some of these multiples they may decide to favour are in deep financial doodaa and might not last the pandemic.
No surprise here
No surprise for any business in these dreadful times
Many a business will fold sadly; this may be one of them
Strange that it has taken Covid 19 to get so many agents to leave RM.
The same agents that failed to get fully behind Agents Mutual – and by that I mean if they had had more courage and dropped RM instead of Z at the beginning then OTM 2 would never have been needed and it would be RM putting out this announcement now……
Don’t bemoan the impending failure of OTM if you stuck with RM all these years – it might just partly be your own fault…….
Horrid times for all…….
there will not be many people who can remember the anger and upset of Propertylive II being axed just after £2m had been spent on a revamp. Nick Salmon will, as will poster JWVW who led the campaign for it not to be axed.
Forgive me for saying but it doesn’t seem like the industry has learned from lessons it has been taught before.
All I would respectfully ask is that someone listens to someone who has been living this particular niche subject for 12 years.
Did Propertylive not call in a consultant who advised them to shut it down?
Where is that mystery consultant now?
Deep in conversation with Karma would be my guess!
There was nothing at all wrong with PropertyLive II so it is very very important that rather than miss another opportunity to gain control of the small data opportunities of #local estate agency and #local lettings this time the industry listen to people who genuinely have this as their Mastermind specialist subject.
8.5m of cash reserves, 33% discount, furloughed staff, Yet still paying the Board!!!! This is supposed to be a Mutual for Agents by Agents and a statement from the acting exec, “we continue to support our agents!! Joke what a Joke. Good Bye Portals! Hello Zoopla and A.Nother Agents Portal!!
As luaghter abates…am I angry… quite possibly.
Morning …Morning …Morning
…Is Clive Beattie (no me neither) the modern day Rip Van Winkle ? This “news flash” highlighting how to re invent the wheel as a square is comical … I don’t think I need to explain why as it would be an insult to anybody else that has read it…. Utterly laughable.
Love it or loathe it … Zoopla are the new kids on the block and after this they are furloughs ahead (like that)
LET ME OUT !!!
Mark Harris – Estate Agent of 30 years
“Love it or loathe it … Zoopla are the new kids on the block and after this they are furloughs ahead (like that)”
“furloughs ahead” – in terms of being a platform that seemingly facilitates widespread #Portaljuggling type activities by Agents and developers, you mean?
“the new kids on the block” where your genuine new listings will be drowned beneath 000s of #RElistings being “Just added” on a daily basis?
I ain’t loving it, MH-RM. At all.
We will see …
Whats the alternative PeeBee?
OTM is not the answer, sadly i trust Z much more than them.
RM will of course keep raising fees.
Zoopla in my opinion should offer 5 year fixed agreements at a fair price. They have the scale and the public awareness. What they do not have is trust from agents.
Offer us 5 year listing contracts at £300 per month and it will give agents the security to step away from RM. Be transparent with the pricing we all pay the same. In year 5 we all get an increase but fixed for a further 5 years.
The alternative is to look beyond the three tired old platforms. Innovation is here, why continue to prop up old tech? Now is the perfect time for wholesale change.
PP
Agree all thre are tired, all three are not trustworthy all to different levels.
But give me an example of a new advertising medium that 75% of agents will get behind and ditch RM? Thats the hard part. Because you may favour one but others may not. The whole time RM has the majority of stock they are king.
Just saying ‘Grow a pair and leave’ like some do just does not work, people have been saying this for over a decade and yet RM still have the monopoly.
I am open to ideas, but Social media, OTM, OnePoxyDome, Are not the answer, I have hopes for Homesearch but lets face it, its an uphill battle they are ill equiped for. No doubt they will give it a bash but a couple of thousand agents out of almost 20,000 is a drop in the ocean.
“Whats the alternative PeeBee?”
I don’t use EYE for promoting what I believe in – and what I left coalface Agency to be part of – smile please.
But an Agent’s own data is King. In fact, it’s the whole Royal flush.
Therefore, a platform
…that puts the Agent first…
…that uses the Agent’s data for the sole purpose the Agent wants it used…
…that allows the one buyer/tenant for every property to find it without the need for climbing through hoops…
…that gives a one-click means for that buyer to communicate with the Agent…
…is, in my opinion “the alternative”.
Agreed with all of the above.
Now find me something i and 75% of agents can agree on and we can actually do something.
Lots of people over the last few weeks have said leave RM, but no credible alternative is out there at present.
I agree OTM or another platform no matter how basic (or advanced) could work but they need to get agents to either agree on mass nationwide OR on a local level with almost 90% of agents in an area agreeing to a switch.
What is glaringly obvious is this is not going to happen.
The “If you build it, they will come” the “Agents need to know the value of their data” or “Grow a pair and leave” mantras have not and will not work.
I have no idea what will but looking at the providers out there at the moment as much as i hate (yes i do hate) them, Zoopla in my opinion COULD be a mutually beneficial agreement with agents if they put forward the right offer.
As i have said Mon Ami, i am happy to look at realistic alternatives. (But i cannot see any).
Thats why Ive stayed with Z with the 5 month free option for now and using the 75% discount from RM
In my view RM with try to push back the subs and THEN we can fight back/walk
If we have Zoopla (and OTM) as back up
ALSO I have it on good authrity if you leave RM at teh end of 4 months Z will then add 4 mont free to thier package
Win win?
Q1 revenues were already impacted by the departure of around 1000 original gold members who would have left them at the end of January. Strangely there is still no mention of that issue or an update on overall branch numbers in their statements, OTM not doubt hoping that the delay to issuing financial statements will help them avoid highlighting a material change in their numbers to the market.
It is clear that every business is looking after themselves. You give a bit, realise the crisis is going to be longer and give some more. Always remember 25% of nothing is nothing and money down the drain. So why stay with rightmove right now? Perhaps you just feel sorry for them and wish to offer staunch loyalty: -) errrrr sorry, it’s not just business sense, it’s called survival of the fittest.
We stayed (for now) as quite reasonable along with Z’s 5 months free
So Im advertsing on 3 portals for around £600 for 4 months
When RM come back and TRY and hike the fees again, then we will walk away unless they adjust them (subsstanially)
At that stage Z are offering to extend free for 4 more months…
I see thta as a win win?
I think that RM could be on the ropes here … nothing against waht is a great platform but “the straw that broke the camels back” seems apt right now.
‘was a great platform‘, fixed it for you.
Sort of Ironic that the agent owned website can’t do more but I’d put it in the “at risk” category during this crisis! I wonder if agents will support it through the crisis or let it go under! Back to the duopoly I suspect…..(if it ever left!)
Easy guys! OTM doesn’t make a 70% or more profit at our expense, so get real !
Dont disagree
BUT you cant have 1 rate for and 1 rate for another
On that basis, I assume that when you joined you insisted on paying the same rate as the founder members?
If so, then it would be unfair you didn’t receive the same discount.
And has nowhere near the fat to live off as RM
And people moaned at RM giving them 75% off!
Rightmove take 1500 a months of me, and only just dropped to 75%..
For the last 2 years the leads have dropped with Rightmove, the service you get from your so called accounts managers ( that changes very 4/6 months ) is shocking, lack of empathy, understanding of your business.
Righmove can easy drop fees to 75% just shows you how much they are stealing from us ( The customers )
I Bend over backwards to help my clients, I have done over the last 20 years as an estate agent. Even if that’s down to my fee, end of the day it’s all about money ,your services and customer supports.
I will be looking at all the portals over the next coming months, Righmove is a disgrace just look at the profiles, On The Market ( going to same way) £550 pounds fee a months that’s the joke..
Facebook leads come in FREE, Website Leads come in FREE
I think changes in this industry must happen now while we can do something about it
Say No To Rightmove google it Sign that register now
“Help Yourself Help Our Industry Now”
L
Are you a founding member of OTM?
WE did not take it up
They begegd us to join
Free for a while
At end wnated £499 plus vat and “take some shares” LOL
Agreed £199 plus VAT 6 months expires now
Im re-neg as I have 1 local says on £100 and another free ! (TBC)
Fight your corner
We took the Z offer od 5 moths plus new 12 at base rate
I believe they will also add another 4 months free IF you leave RM at at of their 75% discount
I think RM will try and re-kike prices and they will be in for a shiock!
Considering the cash reserves and now the furloughing I would suggest that the 33% discount for 3 months isn’t anywhere near enough to really help agents out. Should be at least 6 months at 50% in my opinion.
And the 33% ONLY applies to original joining members NOT those on lower rate contracts they enticed in to help boost their portfolio
They have not offered me a discount on my rate and have other agents on lower tiers than mine
“Equality for all!” was the cry
They need to think ahead as the portal world is changing and they will need our support in the furure
100% agree that On The Market should take the 0 free approach very much like Zoopla, however when I called them to explain that 33% we a slap in the face, and not at all acceptable.
the reply was “we also have a business to run and costs wages to pay for like you”
when on the market set out it was For the Agent owned by the agents?
I have a three year contract with them yet I don’t see much support for independents.
Only ones winning are On The Market
8.5Million Cash (What a joke)
I feel it’s all about the money making and not the coverage us agents really need to take on Rightmove.
On The Market is just Another Rightmove… Money First Loyalty Last
100% agree
I honestly don’t think that is the case. They have wheezed up the hill for the last three years with some poor operational decisions behind the scenes and as a result, very little support from the agency world and look what happened. We got right royally raped by Rightmove. And the only reason RM has -sorry- had the traffic flow from the public, was because they had OUR stock.
Take that stock away, give it to OTM and the public will flow there as sure as water always finds a way out.
If you don’t want to be abused by extortionate costs from RM, support OTM. They will come good for us. RM’s race is run and no one should dream of paying their extortionate rates again for what can be had for a fraction of the cost elsewhere.
All the public want is an on-line window to see what is on the market and that does not ever again have to cost us what RM has been charging us. The simple reality is that with the damage being done (and lots yet to be done for a long time ) by the coronavirus lockdown, we simply will not be able to afford to pay such sums again. And the really, really, silly, simple thing here is WE DON’T NEED TO.
There are alternatives that will do the job for us at sensible prices
I have never met Clive Beattie, but have spoken to him several times and I believe he is really good guy. He has a mammoth job on, and ground to make up, from past events at OTM. And in super tough times.
Give him your support and safeguard your cash flow for the future.