With the London and high-end markets in retreat, Strutt & Parker has confirmed redundancies, while one-time Apprentice contender Jamie Lester has announced that he is no longer running his firm, the multi award-winning London firm Haus Properties.
The loss of jobs at Strutt & Parker has not been quantified, but was seemingly accidentally announced on live Radio London this week during a discussion about the effects of the Brexit vote, Stamp Duty, and the effects on the top end of the market.
Last night, a spokesperson for Strutt & Parker said: “Since the Stamp Duty changes announced at the end of 2014, there has been a well-documented negative impact on the volume of transactions at the higher end of the market which has impacted some parts of our business.
“As a result, we have made appropriate changes within our business having considered our exposure to the market – and we have reviewed resources and headcount as part of this.
“However, we have continued to grow market share and the business continues to focus on areas where we can both diversify and see growth. This has included the acquisition of forestry specialists John Clegg & Co, and expansion into new areas of commercial investment markets.
“We have also seen growth in lettings in London and the home counties as this seems to be on the agenda for many clients in the short term.”
Separately yesterday evening, Jamie Lester told us: “As of today, I have sold my share in Haus Properties and no longer run the company.
“I had an amazing five years at Haus, and not only am I proud of the brand I created, the team and the awards we received, but I seem to have inspired the industry in approaching agency in a slightly different angle. I am very excited taking on my next challenge – whatever that may be.”
Trendy Haus Properties has made a point of its fashionable and very different style of offices in south-west London. The high-profile firm has won a number of industry awards and is now thought to be operating two branches, down from what had been four.
Amin Omidi, a dentist, is now leading the business.
Comments (11)
Ric’s comments yesterday flew under the Radar on a story.
As he points out the middle to upper end of the market has all but fallen off the cliff as purchasers are unwilling to commit to an extra couple hundred grand on their mortgage for the next step up.
However the circa 300k price properties are still a wash with buyers just getting them on which is the problem.
Traditionally S&P are a high end / middle end agent so they will suffer more than most.
The clever agents out there will put vanity aside and instead of trying to assert themselves as a “high end agent” they will double their focus on the lower price bandings.
If we take on a property 350k its Under offer in a week. 600/700/800 can take months to sell.
From information I have the geezer now running (ruining?) Haus is just ‘filling’ in!
there could be ‘wisdom’ in that!
So, a dentist with no experience of running an estate agency is in charge? God help them. Very sad, a nice business robbed of its leader.
“Leader” really ?? and whilst I’m on Mr “Ambassador” remind me what experience of agency did Jon Hunt have when he started Foxtons ?!
As my father used to say – if you’ve not got anything nice to say then its often best that you say nothing !
Good luck Amin.
Maybe he is just ‘filling’ in?……;-)
Strutt and Parker should be blaming Ian Springett not Phillip Hammond for their layoffs. This is what happens when you spend money badly and don’t market properly. Bad decisions at the top cost employees their jobs on the ground. Another agency burying their head in sand and refusing to see AM/OTM for the failure it is.
Wow, even by ‘normal’ anti OTM standards that smacks of desperation. Last time I looked S&P were on Rightmove and last time I looked (2) Rightmove were light years in front of OTM and Zoopla.
But according this post all S&P had to do was ditch OTM and presumably go back to Zoopla?
Obviously this poster has a target of at least one OTM anti comment a day and this was the nearest he could get to a portal story. Check your medication chum and get back to your X-Box and Pot Noodle.
Other news: Decision to go back to building prefabs all down to OTM, Developers putting profits before volumes the fault of OTM says report, New report into falling home-ownership states the obvious – rising prices but Labour blames OTM.
brigade are that desperate
Sadly, they’re not the first, and they won’t be the last if transactions continue at the current level 🙁
Such a shame to read about Jamie Lester; great guy, lovely business. We wish Jamie all the best for the future, and Amin good luck in his new venture!
S&P having been conducting this review for a while and as already mentioned in the earlier reply they will not be the last, although this has already been commented on in recent weeks with all the corporates making their cut backs. This is newsworthy as it is representing the other end of the estate agency spectrum. S&P keep catching a cold when they try to build themselves into a direct competitor of Savills and Knight Frank. They nearly sank themselves in the 80’s and ended up with a huge spin off problem with their HQ in Hill Street being firebombed by the Welsh Nationalists; joined the expansion game late in the noughties and ended up cutting back everything by 30% and nearly went under, with cash calls going out to the partners. They have opened new offices this year, so were blinkered again. However, their commercial side and agricultural businesses are very successful, so the acquisition of Cleggs is a good move, but the lettings move is again late but at least they now embrace it whereas it was irrelevant to them before . Hold on to your hats, the market is showing that there isn’t enough business for all except the fittest and the best operators. New Homes will help some and everyone piled into London as being the land of plenty which of course is not as it has been over the last 5 years. It is now a drain on a lot of companies and the fact that it is no longer a ‘list it and the buyers will flock’ type of market, this will now challenge the online offerings! Watch this space