From new entrants to existing agents looking for change in their career, Nick Leeming, chairman at Jackson-Stops, is urging people to consider the benefits of operating under his firm’s brand.

Jackson-Stops announced this morning that it is looking to add to its 42 branches, with an additional 20 branches by the end of 2023.

The aim is to allow agents to invest in and develop their own business under the Jackson-Stops brand, with each business owner responsible for a geographical area.

He says that a key benefit to new members is the ease of establishing their own business under a nationally recognised brand while contributing to carefully controlled central resources which are charged on an office-by-office basis.

Leeming told EYE: “Jackson-Stops offers people the opportunity to run their own business in their local area in perpetuity, which is different to a franchise.”

Leeming is keen to point out that his company is a non-for-profit group, with each business owner given a seat on the board of directors.

“We offer a wonderful opportunity for people who wish to be masters of their own destiny,” he added.

Support to branches includes marketing, PR, compliance, strategy and development, IT, finance, and legal support. According to the company, the brand reaches in excess of 30m people per month through strategic online exposure and print advertising.

“We are providing a well-recognised brand that is very well established in the mid- to high-end of the residential market,” Leeming continued.

Leeming believes that now is the ideal time for Jackson-Stops to expand, owed in part to recent lifestyle changes.

He explained: “Given recent lifestyle changes, more people are likely to be working two to three days a week from their offices and the rest of time form their home.

“This has, as we know, opened up greater possibility in terms of where they live. I mean, it has effectively extended the commuter area, so for people who had to historically be [living] five days a week in their accommodation to access their office they can now be [based] much further afield and people are very much looking to make changes in where they live and their lifestyle to address that.

“We are all still trying to work out what the new long-term trend looks like in terms of office and home based working, but I think all the indicators are that a lot people are not going to be working the traditional side of five days in the office.”

He continued: “There is an opportunity in the market right now with the lifestyle changes people are making. Obviously, there have been challenging times over the past year and a half and for the property world it’s been an extraordinary period.

“It is a time when people are looking to the future, and I think it presents a wonderful opportunity for new entrants into the [estate agency] sector, and also for established operators that may be frustrated in their current working environment, and potentially want to get out and own their own business, which is often difficult to achieve under their own name.”

With regards to new locations Jackson-Stops may wish to expand in, Leeming said that the areas that the firm have been most active over the past six months have been across parts of the South West, South East, and to an extent the Midlands.

He does not dismiss the buoyant activity levels in the north, but points out that Jackson-Stopps does not cover this part of the country.

So where is the company looking to open new offices? “We spread from York down to Truro, with six offices in London, and there are areas outside that existing network that we would look to expand in, and there are areas within our network where there are room for additional entrants.

“So we are looking to expand in relevant new areas but also increase our presence in existing areas.”

Jackson-Stops unveils ambitious multi-branch expansion plans