The legendary founder of Countrywide, Harry Hill, says that the UK’s largest estate agent could be broken up in any sale. He also believes it will be difficult to recruit a new Countrywide boss, and has criticised the acting executive chairman as having no property experience.
Hill told EYE yesterday that he believes Countrywide – which he referred to as a distressed company – could be worth less than the sum of its parts.
He said that only one member of the management team he assembled to run Countrywide still survives, naming Paul Creffield.
Hill said: “[Countrywide’s] loss of market share is self evident, as is the rapidly revolving executive door-but beyond those public events, I have no greater insight than anyone else.
“My personal opinion is however, for what it is worth, that the business would now almost certainly be worth more broken up and sold in individual parts than the current stock market capitalisation and debt.
“Countrywide however continues to have two very wealthy major shareholders who themselves will have far greater expertise than me in resolving distressed company situations and I am sure that they monitor the situation on almost a daily basis.”
Criticising former Countrywide CEO Alison Platt, Hill said she was wrong in believing estate agency was a form of retail. He said people with property experience had been replaced by those from retail backgrounds, while the non-executive chair, Peter Long, had taken on an executive role pending the appointment of a new CEO.
However, he warned that finding a new CEO of sufficient calibre would be very difficult.
Platt resigned last month. Another recent departure has been that of Margaret Longden, who previously headed up the Countrywide lettings business jointly with John Hards. There has been no statement.
Comments (19)
I’ve said this time and time again, CW you must put Harry back in charge. #legend
In my long experience in the industry I found that specialisation worked. The agency with which I spent 25 years from junior negotiator to General Manager (Marketing) had second-hand houses, new house, and lettings but all as totally separate departments. All were successful and all were independent with no shared staff.
When the Personnel Officer (HR these days) retired he said to me: “You must be a good manager because I have offered both of your top boys their own branches and both turned it down saying they’d rather stay with you.”
Finally, estate agency is not retail in any shape or form – it is a people business and the main skill is not ‘selling’ it is the ability to empathise.
I spent my second 25 years in editorial work, staff training and political lobbying and turned out to be reasonably successful at all of these!!
BTB
Bless you now we agree-people who have sat on the front line and promote within. Yes two separate parts that need to work closely together.
imagine spending £5 million….. to close offices… wow… different world in CEO LONDON LAND.
I wish i could buy it. I would get Jon Hunt out of retirement as top boardman.. i bet he misses the crack… who enjoys making billions out of commercial property… lol..
Get Jon and Peter Rollings back on the case. Dream Team.. p.s. Can I be your driver.
Bless you, he wasn’t always right but he made them lots of money and saw that the whole retail B.U.P.A thing was nonsense. That company needs good Lettings and Estate agents back in to run it.
Lettings will kill any good company. Might make money but any staff member on the front line will burn out in 6 months. Need serious seperation to do both.
Cant believe contrywide doesnt read any business books:
First Rule = Promote from within…preferably with people who have seen whats it like on the front line (i.e. real world)
I agree with the above, Bob Scarff. He’s got all the credentials and made it clear from the off that the retail direction was as he put it in a PIE article in 2016 was “ludicrous”
I still shake my head and wonder what the hell Ali P thought she was doing. Clueless. And the ones that have suffered…..the staff. Discraceful.
bob scarff came to a meeting once and the feedback was one of us was slouching in their chair. … priorities lol.
Bob is far to removed from agency to make the needed impact, Bless You is right. I have been in his company a number of times when he seems to make comments for just something to say. He is an impeccable dresser though 😉
I have heard on the grapevine that there are indeed some old faces in line to return in the next few weeks, also strong rumours of another company looking to make a bid for part of the business.
He who dresses nicely should do more work… bless you
BS came to London , reduced our commission to 3% and put us all on a 6 day week , great motivator not !
Countrywide has such a great opportunity now all the “retail lot” have gone. Paul Creffield for CEO would be the right appointment. Years of experience in Sales, Lettings, new homes and business to business dont forget he was also a major player at Rightmove. Very well respected in th industry he is the man for the job.
Robert Scarff has done it once and I am sure would do it again if asked?
It will be interesting to see if they can attract a few big hitters in who know what they are doing.
Dexters expanding in London – could be an interesting buy
who’s buying at the present? Who is willing to fund something like buying the whole thing? The breakup is a strong possibility, dumping branches that don’t or won’t make money imo. Alternatively; Brandes and Oaktree resolve to sort it out somehow. Problem is, Ali Pali, super Sam and the sycophants have done a ‘bang up job’ I’m driving the biz into the ground.
Any “value” in a break up is reliant on those professionals running the individual components remaining when they can easily just upsticks debt free .Any self- respecting property professional respecting his or her careers wont be content with what has taken place at the top ,Not content with their career dependent on a poor set of BODS who have made some bad decisions. Unprepared to be packed up like a bag of spuds and hawked around the market to persons unknown .where their career progression might be threatened
Why would any company wish to shell out £30/40/60 m for an individual team when they can just poach the team with clients in tow on enhanced remuneration packages. Conversley why would anyone undertake a management buyout ,pay good money to buy themselves when they can just leave
Just ask the Belfast lads at BTW Shiells who have been bought out not once but twice in the past by CWD in its various guises, paid handsomely and then bought themselves back each time for a bag of peanuts
Brandes and Oaktree the major shareholders will be mindful of this and suspect that they are already in discussions with the company bankers about the debt This sum of the parts greater than a whole theory diminishes at great speed .
I am convinced Alison Platt was a saboteur put in place by David Plumtree!!
DP has nether the ‘wit’ or ‘guile’ for such a thing and he’d also need permission of those that run the gig. Livesy and Shippo on the other hand!!!!!!
agent v is ready and willing to take on the job.
i wonder if anyone has managed to get agentV email?