Online entrepreneur Adam Day has left Emoov, where he was the head of estate agency.
He had been in the role only since July, after being poached from his previous job at easyProperty by his one-time rival, Emoov founder Russell Quirk.
While overtures from Quirk to poach Day began in May and the announcement was in June, a period of gardening leave meant Day could not actually start the job until July.
Day, who has now apparently left without a job to go to, insisted there is absolutely no animosity involved.
He told EYE yesterday: “Russell asked me to come into the business back in May, to head up the estate agency side of the merger integration and to fine tune ancillary revenue.
“Having completed those tasks and put systems and processes in place which have helped to treble conveyancing in the space of just a few months, it’s now time for me to look at new opportunities.
“I’ve been really impressed with what Russell has put together at Emoov and Tepilo.
“He’s put his heart and soul into trying to grow the business over the years and I have the utmost respect for him.
“I and Russell remain firm friends and we’ll continue to catch up on a regular basis.”
Day added: “I’m currently looking at different options for myself moving forwards.
“My passion is in start-ups and helping customers to sell their house with as little friction as possible.
“In recent times, I’ve really enjoyed working with agents to help them digitise their own business, along with helping them in identifying the right or wrong proptech for them to adopt.
“This could well be a path that I go down in the future.”
Day joined Emoov from easyProperty from where he was poached by Quirk after just one year as head of operations.
There was no hint at the time that Day’s role at Emoov would be temporary.
Day was one of the online agency pioneers, founding Hatched in 2005.
He sold Hatched to Connells in 2015, staying with the business at first, before going to easyProperty.
Connells, however, closed Hatched last month saying that the online business model was commercially unviable and “fundamentally flawed”.
Last week on EYE, Quirk revealed that he has changed his mind about some aspects of online estate agency, saying that take-up by customers has been slower and shallower than he had envisaged.
Quirk has so far not commented on Day’s departure from Emoov.
Comments (21)
For what it’s worth losing Adam when your stated aim is to move from the lunacy of losses back towards modern digital agency is more than a bitt daft.
Adam Day will understand the challenges of online agency and his time with Mr Plumtree will have given him a genuine insight in to the viability of digital disruption of a service industry.
Perhaps now the stuff I was saying in the autumn of 2013 will now be understood by those who back then so vehemently disagreed with me.
Passive intermediary listing has a place but national online listing agents will always struggle against #local agents.
If I had a vacancy today, I would offer it to Mr Day; he now has enough experience of what works and what doesn’t to help build a proper Generation 5, ‘composite system’ for agency with those who are beginning to deliver it! Adam is passionate about what he does and delivers it in a way people like. That is important!
Has he been re-mooved do you think?
or?
At least he served more than A DAM DAY?
Ok, I’ll leave now
Can’t help myself
“Here ToDAY, Gone Tomorrow”
Basil Brush sent it to me, Boom, Boom
“Having completed those tasks and put systems and processes in place which have helped to treble conveyancing in the space of just a few months, it’s now time for me to look at new opportunities.”
I’m intrigued as to what you could have possibly accomplished in 3 months. Either the “tasks” werent very important, or you rushed them through? Also “trebled conveyancing”? I know that the companies recommended by the likes of Emoov arent very good, but trebling the time taken is quite some achievement 🙂
“He’s put his heart and soul into trying to grow the business over the years and I have the utmost respect for him”
This for me is the most telling aspect “trying” as in not succeed. I can only guess that Adam and Russell had different ideas on what had to be done to succeed and he felt given the evidence Russells methods werent working.
Guess the 3 month probation did not pan out as expected.
I feel sorry for Adam, not that he needs it after stiffing connells for a few million. He does seem to be the only ‘onliner’ with an ounce of integrity.
I do like the comment by Arthur House though. I expect Adam will pop up somewhere soon with the CV polished with highlighted ‘Achievements’
Not sure it was a few million as it goes in fact not even sure if it was a million but he clearly knew how to run it better than David Martin and the Connells board.
Sounds like Quirke had a ‘bad day’!
A Quirke of fate maybe?
so ‘E moved
Huh !
Best one yet, PP…
…which shows how low the bar is!! ;o)
He must have read RQs article.
Loaded with phrases that make it perfectly clear this departure was not planned. At least, not planned by Mr Day.
Amazing that he was able to sell Hatched after 10 years, despite it being “Fundamentally Flawed”.
Looks like Quirky has got something coming to sell to High Street agents, so maybe a slight disagreement about something to do with that?
I once thought about poaching somebody just so that I could have the satisfaction of firing them a few weeks later…..didn’t do it though.
Hatched V2?
#REHatched?
Cuckoo hijacks warbler nest:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAU5MTXmAPY
You know when you get those CVs in from negs who have jumped from job to job to job, claiming to have done amazing things in a short space of time……
In fairness, AH02, Mr Day hasn’t got that many lines on his CV to qualify him as one of the ‘flitterbys’ you refer to.
Interested to see where his name pops up next. I’ve hardly chewed his ankle at all for over a year now – can’t have that…
…can we?
;o)
I suggest this is all a classic example of the emperors new clothes……the dawn of reality gets closer with the hybrid thingy. Wht’s more, now the FTSE is under 7000 we are getting ever closer to where there will a retreat to real quality businesses and models for startups and cash calls. Even Connells with their background have finally realised the failings despite their investments. Does anyone know how much they paid for Hatched?