An estate agent which was picked out by the London Stock Exchange in a “top 100” list of UK companies earlier this year has had a record July.

The Acorn Group, founded in 1984 and with branches in London and Kent, brought in over £2.1m revenue last month.

Pre-tax profits for July are expected to be over £600,000.

Chief executive Robert Sargent said that despite the summer season, new sales and lets have held up well, and all the company’s specialist divisions are “reporting unusually high levels of activity for the time of year”.

The business is due to expand with new branches opening in Eltham and West Greenwich at the end of the summer, taking the network to 25 offices.

The firm currently employs 310 members of staff.

In March, the London Stock Exchange issued a list of 100 high-performing smaller companies, featuring Acorn.

It is thought that the reason why the Stock Exchange issued the list was because it thinks that companies on it have a realistic change of floating.

Last year, Acorn had a turnover of £20m, up from £17.3m in 2013 and £12m in 2012.

The group, whose brands include Acorn, Langford Russell and John Payne, has reported its record-breaking July some six months after coming off Zoopla in order to list with OnTheMarket.

Within the last few days, Foxtons, Countrywide and LSL have all reported dismal first-halves to the year, but have said they are optimistic about the second half.

But Sargent said that the Acorn Group had had an “excellent first half to the year, exceeding forecast”.

He said: “My concern with some of the bigger groups is they tend to follow the market, instead of making the market.

“Though it’s impossible to ‘hold back the tide’ when the property market changes and certain areas / sectors become more sensitive, you can certainly adapt quickly and focus your time and expenditure to ensure volumes are maintained.

“A common trend is to cut costs in an effort to maintain profits in tougher markets.

“However, this can prove counter-intuitive and often adds to a deceleration in incomes.

“Furthermore, a surrender to the perceived inevitability of the marketplace getting more difficult for seasonal or economic reasons can affect staff performance and allow sales teams an excuse for not returning good performances.

“We are far from perfect, but we constantly try to evolve and adapt the delivery of our service ahead of market change, and so far it’s proving effective.”

Sargent also said that OnTheMarket is continuing to perform well for the Group.

He said: “We are very happy with OTM. Our clients understand why we have aligned with them and interestingly when discussed at length, the typical vendor realises it’s the stock that makes the portal, and not the other way round.”

Will Acorn now consider a flotation on the stock market?

Sargent said: “There has been a lot of interest from the City in our business, particularly since the beginning of the year, but for the moment our sole focus is sharpening our competitive edge and forging on with both our organic and acquisition growth plans.

“However, when our business reaches the right critical mass, all options will be seriously considered.”