After a hiatus of over a year, agency acquisition business Lomond Capital has announced it is returning to the fray – complete with its multi-million pound war chest.

In what it says is an “aggressive” growth strategy, it will now look to buy agencies across the country, initially in the south of England.

It has also announced a boardroom shake-up with the unexplained departure of chief executive Bruce Evans, while Stuart Pender’s role as chairman has become an executive function.

Evans was managing director of Countrywide’s operations in London and the south-east before joining Lomond Capital in 2017.

Lomond Capital was backed at that same time to the tune of £37.5m  by Clydesdale Bank and Tosca Debt Capital.

Lomond Capital has bought 38 businesses in six cities since 2010, working its way down from Aberdeen to Brighton and buying up both agencies and property portfolios.

Big names acquired by Lomond Capital include Thornley Groves in the north and Brand Vaughan in the Brighton area. It has repeatedly said it also plans to target London.

Businesses which it buys keep their own branding, and typically grow by the acquisition of local competitors. Although Lomond Capital is specifically interested in lettings, a number of businesses it has acquired also have sales operations.

Lomond Capital paused its buying spree last year.

Pender told EYE: “Lomond Capital has acquired new businesses in every year of operation since we launched in 2010, including several acquisitions in the south of England and the midlands in 2017 and 2018.

“We then made the decision to consolidate all 38 of our acquired businesses onto one operating platform with a common set of processes and products. This was a significant piece of work that now provides us with a solid foundation for further expansion.

“Lomond also believes that vendor expectations will now be more realistic than was the case during the period leading up to the tenant fee ban.”

He added: “Ever since acquiring a range of businesses on the south we have explored further growth in the south, and that remains a key priority, in particular Reading and certain suburbs of London.

“We are however also very keen to expand our footprint in regions where we already have strong hubs such as Manchester, Birmingham and Scotland – but our wider investment strategy certainly includes looking beyond those regions.”

Pender said that Evans had played an important role during its consolidation phase.

He said: “We now act as one organisation with a single operating platform and a single management structure.

“The benefits of this will become clear as we return to acquisition mode, seek opportunities to further grow our regional presence and assets under management and roll out a series of new products to our clients.”

He added: “Our strategy to consolidate the lettings market across the UK continues to offer fantastic opportunities for agents.

“It is a challenging time for smaller lettings agents, and coming into the Lomond family is one way to secure your future and guarantee a professional, nationwide approach to service for landlords and tenants.”