The Acorn Group, the regional agency group which masterminded the ‘Say No To Rightmove campaign’, is listing properties with Zoopla once more.
All of Acorn’s physical branches in south London and across parts of Kent, which include brands John Payne and Langford Russell, are signed up to the portal, along with its new homes division and premium brand, Unique, amounting to 40 branches listed on Zoopla in total.
Acorn Group CEO Robert Sargent commented: “The key behind the decision to return to Zoopla revolved around a desire to build a genuine working partnership with the businesses portal suppliers and Zoopla appear to be demonstrating a clear understanding of the challenges facing the UK estate Agency industry.”
Acorn’s decision to rejoin the portal follows on from the news that Zoopla has enjoyed 2% growth in customer numbers year-on-year, which it claims is “bucking the trend seen for portals more widely”.
Zoopla says its growth in customers is owed in part to “the overwhelmingly positive response to the company’s decision to offer free portal usage, worth upwards of £30m, in light of the lockdown”.
Andy Marshall, Zoopla’s chief commercial officer, added: “The Acorn Group is a figurehead and thought leader for the industry that is recognised widely for its acumen and incisive approach to business.
“With our laser focused, bespoke approach to customer success, we look forward to supporting Acorn as it sets new benchmarks in growth and realises its exacting ambitions.
“We are delighted that Acorn has chosen to partner with us, and we look forward to cementing our relationship for the long term.”
Comments (19)
i think agents can survive without RM but as PropertyEar says above you cant get away unscathed…..if you leave your agent competitors will slaughter you…. as nobody looks at the bigger picture. The Competition and Markets Authority have warned agents not to collude to choose their choice of portals so the whole thing has turned into a joke.
1/ RM turn the screw on agents pricing as
2/ RM knows that most agents who can afford RM will stay with them until they cant afford it ….Zoopla and OTM are just window dressing
3/ Agents are like rats in a barrel as the public likes RM and doesnt pay anything for it….they think…
4/ CMA tell the rats they cant talk to each other how to get out of the barrel
5/ CMA are oblivious to the fact that agents are being screwed and the public are in fact paying for it….albeit they dont know it.
6/ Personally I believe that RM fees add £100 onto each sale…..( RM cost – OTM or Zoopla cost) / number of houses sold per branch
7/ There is only superficial competition in the portal market ….RM and 1 other or possibly all 3 if youre flush.
8/ Even if a new challenger comes along are agents going to leave RM …probably not…
9/ This needs the CMA to wake up and smell the coffee as this is costing the public money…they are not worried about agents but theyre responsibility is to consumers who are downstream.
10/ CMA is where the pressure needs to be applied….
“The Acorn Group is a figurehead and thought leader for the industry that is recognised widely for its acumen and incisive approach to business.
“With our laser focused, bespoke approach to customer success, we look forward to supporting Acorn as it sets new benchmarks in growth and realises its exacting ambitions.”
What an absolute load of codswallop, if I pat your back will you pat mine in and even more ludicrous David Brent fashion than I did yours.
Self-Publicity Sargent ….the evidence suggests ….and some extra negotiating kudos when it comes to portal-signing time.
You’ll recognise him walking down the street wearing a Fez and carrying an acorn/3 magic cups – asking passers-by to guess which acorn/portal is under the cup.
Im not sure what people expect from SayNoToRightmove / Rob Sargent and the other groups representing agents but :-
1/ He created SNTR and helped saved agents a lot of money up to now. After RM’s derisory intial offer the creation of SNTR appeared to focus minds at RM Ivory Towers in Milton Keynes.
2/ Ask yourself would RM have done that without the existence of SNTR ? When did the last SNTR type organisation come along? No I cant remember either
3/ He’s tried to engage with RM without success ….but is that his fault? RM dont do ‘group’ discussion as many have found out over the years.
4/ If he leaves are you going to really leave as well ….answer that one honestly? Probably not…
5/ If you want to stick your head up above the parapet instead of him carry on….I’ll hand you the bullets to fire.
Nothings perfect in this world but Id like to hear what people who like to see done next.
And no I dont work for him and I dont always agree with him…
I left. Took two minutes. 10 months later…still selling houses. No point endlessly complaining if you’re not willing to walk away.
The only ones who had an effect on RM’s decision making were those who actually left. SNTR, although well intended, is a wasted cause. My firm left following RM’s initial derisory response to a lockdown discount. It cost us dear, we were the only leavers in our town and were slaughtered by the competition. We did however make our point which was noted and discounts were applied – the leavers achieved the discount, not SNTR. We’re now back with RM and so is lost business. Like ‘em or loathe ‘em, in many areas agents cannot survive without RM. They must operate carefully though, in the not too far distant future, an alternative is sure to emerge.
We’ve been the only ones to leave in my patch. I won’t lie and say it hasn’t caused the odd headache, but we’ve certainly not had a huge issue with the decision. The only problem has been the publics perception of Rightmove rather than the reality, which they will pick at if their property doesn’t whizz out the door, which as we know not all do.
Rob Sargent, the gift that keeps on giving
The panic that set in in March this year resulted in SNTR making a lot of noise and gaining traction with some agents, but it had already been killed before it began with the RM discount…….
RM may have learned some lessons in PR but I suspect that’s about it.
Make your own decisions based on what’s best for your own business – just another example of the herd mentality in agency that got everyone into this mess in the first place……
Agents are worried their competitors might use the fact they aren’t on Zoopla against them.
Tragic herd mentality.
Believe in yourself, not a joke portal.
We were on zoopla and not rightmive until onthrnarket came along.
Now costs me 12k more a year to be an estate agent.. Good work.
Why haven’t they left Rightmove?
Because it was only ever about getting a better deal from rightmove and it didn’t work
So since the say no to rightmove campaign git going to save us money, Rob has endorsed Boomin and listed with Zoopla whilst staying with Rightmove ….. in one years time he will be paying double what he does at the moment once the free periods end.
Not his fault the industry scored a home goal by supporting onTheMarket .
This is what gave rightmove increased market share.
Did they say no yet?
No, errr yes, I mean no, sorry yes, no, but yes to bloomin, err no they didn’t ever want to leave, I mean yes they did, but they didn’t, I mean we’re in this together, but they’re also leaving Rightmove, but they’re still on, hmmmm now they’re on Zoopla!
Is it true Rob’s employed Alan Partridge as the new marketing director?
How is the Say No To Rightmove campaign going?
Asking for a friend
Joke