Foxtons is struggling to regain lost market share and halt the underperformance versus its peer group due to the firm’s current management’s strategy, according to Catalist Partners, which has a 2% stake in the company. 
A spokesperson for Catalist told Property Industry Eye that they are trying to engage with Foxtons’ management team, having written to the company twice this year – starting in February and on Tuesday last week, to try to get management to amend its strategy as they believe it is significant undervalued relative to the platform’s potential.
Their main concern is that the management’s current strategy is failing.
Catalist is among those that has criticised Foxtons’ decision to award Nic Budden, its chief executive, a near £1m bonus despite the firm benefiting from almost £7m of government Covid support, including £4.4m from the furlough scheme
In a letter sent to Budden last Monday, Robin Paterson, the estate agency veteran who co-founded Catalist, said that benchmarking compensation to a FTSE 250 company was reasonable only if it was “matched” by financial performance.
He wants Foxtons to use social media to promote its “rockstar” brokers, open branches outside London to benefit from an exodus of people to the country and increase market share in sales and lettings of new developments, he said.
Paterson added that pay should be linked to revenue growth and earnings targets in areas that Catalist believes would increase earnings.
Comments (5)
Surprise surprise. The CEO pays himself £1m bonus after taking £7m of taxpayers’ emergency support and his shareholders lose faith in his judgement and decide that he is incapable of rebuilding the Foxtons’ brand.
He should repay the emergency support monies that Foxtons clearly didn’t need.
Robin Paterson was certainly instrumental in stirring things up at Countrywide and their shareholders have a lot to thank him for
When he arrived on the scene last summer at Countrywide accumulating a stake the share price was languishing around 60p A price not dissimilar to that of Foxtons today (65p)
The sale price to Connells reflected 395 per a 6 bagger+ after he finished
Foxtons shareholders can only hope he arrives to sprinkle his fairy dust here
Robin Paterson time served veteran in the industry having enjoyed successful entries and exits in the estate agency world and currently Chairman of Sothebys .
Bring him on
Are you Mr Paterson I wonder?
Certainly seems to know the inner workings of the industry.
Well unless you were both asleep last year the arrival of Robin Paterson successfully putting CWD into play was last year was well documented pocketing £10m +for his trouble
Anyone with any skin in the game in London would be aware that prior to CWD acquiring Hamptons he had got involved there previously moved Hamptons up a few gears and sold them successfully before the crash
Likewise he cut his teeth with Barnard Marcus ,exited successfully there to
He is a born winner and it’s like the cavalry arriving at Foxtons