Following a post-lockdown trial, Farrell Heyworth says it has now completed the first phase of their consolidation plan, merging their smaller branches into seven super hubs, with the decommissioning of the surplus sales outlets.
The seven super hubs will continue to service all eighteen markets dealing with clients lettings, sales, mortgages and auction needs.
There have been no further job losses following an initial review of resource requirements in June, with some of the most dedicated and experienced property professionals in the north west now retained in the seven hub branches.
The company says it has plans for more hub branches to expand the geographical footprint in the near future and will soon be announcing a plan to acquire other lettings businesses.
Estate agency group denies rumour of permanent branch closures
Comments (29)
“(Hubs are) A great opportunity for experienced local agents to work under a new hybrid model. The freedom and flexibility of agents working like this will be felt by their buying and selling clients alike. A very bright future for this business if costs are controlled accordingly now that a release from the fixed overheads of all those expensive retail premises has been achieved.
A few notes of caution here though. Firstly, is this business’s technology effective enough to enable clients to engage with them easily without shops? Can their potential selling clients book valuations online after business hours? Can their potential buying clients book viewings in the evening whilst discussing their life decisions? Hopefully so.”
extract from the book
“No.1 Bastard Estate Agent. (someone no longer in their original form) How to Evolve in Property Selling”
Firstly I applaud any business who is looking at different ways to not only survive now but thrive in the future. It’s also great to see so many comments above also supporting this……..interesting that when Spicerhaart made its own announcement some months ago, a model which many now seem to be trying replicate, Paul Smith got slammed for it. Perhaps we need to try and be consistent and not just take easy swipes at the big players.
I don’t think PS got slammed for what he did, just perhaps the way he went about it…..
The rest of your point is excellent.
Controlling a cost base in uncertain times is just sensible isn’t it. When more confident times return easy enough to go back onto multiple High Street locations if that’s what is required. And probably at rock bottom rents by then as well.
The Hub model is, in the main, a branch closure programme dressed up as a ‘strategic play’ in order that the business owner(s) save a bit of face. Sure Major Tim, you could of course always close a load of branches and then do a ‘cold/re-start’ of them at a later date …. good luck with that strategy!?! Convincing yourself that you’ll still retain some market share by covering the location from a Hub located 10/15 miles away, while your displaced former branch manager of the closed branch works out of his/her bedroom doesn’t seem like a wise move to me? There’s lots of noise about Hubs being ‘the future’ yet absolutely no evidence of anyone making it work (let’s see the numbers … pre/post closure instructions?/market share?/increase in profits?). There’s lots of evidence that it doesn’t work (just look at the market share of the ‘closed branch’) and no proper evidence that it does work … and yet more agents seem to be ‘dressing up’ their branch closures as a transition to a HUB? Oh, and what message does it send to your existing branch staff? ….. “you’ll be next when the lease on your branch comes to an end, but I’ve got a partnership opportunity for you … if you’ve got a big enough bedroom!” The agents that seem to be doing really well at the moment are those that have ‘stuck to their knitting’, while some others seem to be surrendering/tinkering. I know which agent I’d prefer to work for!
Bad day at the office obviously Chippy.
If an agent wants to expand a National footprint then to consolidate its more marginal branches into large Hubs and then open additional Hubs in prime city centres where that agent does not operate currently does not sound like a branch closure programme to me-sounds like growth. But I do agree it needs to be proven. If there is a team hungry enough with the right skills and ambition and a backed up with the latest support Tech it will happen-if not it will fail. Time will tell.
PS I can’t knit and have no intention of learning.
On the contrary Tim .. great day at the office! Why wouldn’t it be with sales agreed up by over 40% since lockdown lifted, instructions up by over 35% and a mammouth SSTC pipeline …. the wonders of keeping your branch network open; treating your staff well and paying your suppliers in full …. bet you wished you’d done the same, and hadn’t closed c.20% of your network?
Anyway, just a bit of clarification Tim …. when you say ‘marginal’ branches, I assume you mean failed/loss making? Oh, and how many additional NEW Hubs (i.e. new leases taken in new locations) have you opened since you closed c.25 branches and displaced hundreds of staff on lockdown day?
Well done you-everyones having a good time of it at the moment arent they. Make sure you get that pipeline through David.
Disappointing spelling of disappointed Major Tim? But, huge congrats to you if you’ve really managed to close c.25 branches on lockdown day; take an age to re-open after lockdown lifted; deal with the fall-out from all the staff you made redundant on lockdown day; deal with the alleged issues over paying for suppliers; launch your ‘I know we’ve closed your branch, but you can work from your bedroom’ partnership programme AND still achieve >40% growth in sales!! Wow, I take my hat off to you and eagerly anticipate this being reflected in your published accounts and, when it is, I’ll send you a congratulatory ball of wool and some knitting needles!
Well something has rattled your cage today COS! I think Major Tom has made some great observations and if the well informed knowledge I have about SHs performance are anything to go by I suggest that they are very much moving in the right direction.
… said the SH employee, despite SH not being specifically mentioned in the thread!?!
I look forward to the rhetoric about Hubs and partnerships being backed up with evidence of it actually working (i.e. hard facts on instructions numbers, market share and profitability – pre/post branch closures). We compete in some of the locations that SH (and others that have moved to Hub models) had branches and the hard facts show that, unsurprisingly they have already lost almost all prescence and there’s no signs that the folks working out of their bedrooms are going to reverse that trend.
So, long may you continue with your strategy, but don’t be surprised if your existing branch staff jump before being pushed out of their branches and into their bedrooms!
As you suggest…..the proof will be in the pudding. I wish you all of the best with your “traditional” approach…..there is certainly a place for it.
Interesting edit of your original response Tim? Thought better of it did you …. or have the SH PR team in Colchester finally had a word about keeping your head down??
Please. Can I suggest you look back on this whole thread-read my initial contribution to the headline debate which was in no way aggressive or critical and then reflect on the torrid of angst from yourself that followed.
I wish them success. Many agents have tried some have failed but everyone needs to look at the business and work out how to keep it open. I have over 20 years as an agent worked for many where a hub would have worked. Now in property tech I can see the need to streamline and look at what is out there to increase business time but reduce costs.
In my home town, almost all of estate agent offices are in one street where many shops have closed. They are now surrounded by charity shops, hairdressers, fast food shops and pubs. Parking nearby is limited, rates are exorbitant and so I find it hard to understand how they can continue to run profitably.
Under current Covid restrictions, who really just “pops” into an estate agent’s office for a set of details, other than tourists and nosy neighbours?
Virtual offices and remote working are obvious solutions but there is a real need for a professional premises to meet clients who want to discuss their personal affairs in confidence or require mortgage advice, together with space to showcase your business.
There has always been the opportunity to relocate to out of town areas, near large supermarkets or DIY stores, where there is plenty of parking and ease of access so why do estate agents stay on the high street?
This is no longer “doing what you have always done” because that road leads to extinction – ask your customers what they really want and then re-build the business model to suit your buyers and sellers of the future.
Back to the future. Before the rush in the 1980s to open branches in every little suburb and village possible, most agents ran from main town bases and it worked fine. Call them “superhubs” if that makes any difference.
sounds sensible to make changes and in the areas they don’t have an office they’ll probably spend more with Rightmove so at least they’ll be pleased….
I don’t know the firm or the ins and outs but condensing a branch network if you have a number of branches in a small area is a wise move.
Unless a branch is doing inexcess of £400,000 turnover, opening another within a couple of miles is just vanity.
They are plainly doing what they need to do to protect their business. To give them a kicking for that is not on. Good for them for not adopting a head in the sand attitude.
We have been operating a hub for over 10 years now. Was ridiculed to start. We did however, and still have all the expertise under one roof. Makes me smile when agents report hubs as ground breaking news! Hardly – the penny finally drops that you do not need the high street anymore, nor unnecessary costs…
I love this comment…..
Revolutionary vision by those who are copying the quiet pioneers……
Video’s too are new and revolutionary………
I was doing them in 1989 with a huge camcorder and played them on a mahoosive tv in the office – we had cinema chairs too….
More and more people, be them established agencies like FH or break out staff will work flexibly and from home or hubs next year.
Some established regional firms will see this as the future, others will see it as a failure.
Personal realtors too do have a place, but will have to work hard on their marketing to maintain their presence.
Strong personal branding, a vested interest and active role in their communities are undoubtedly the key to being relevant…
The first of many. No doubt whatsoever.
An unequivocal denial of any branch closures in June. A pile of redundancies. And now 60% closure of the previous branch network.
This is the second piece of the day that claims “I have seen the light” and reports that a gaggle of single operators without a branch presence, operating from a reproduction gypsy caravan at the end of their garden, will completely outperform high street agents. Good luck with that.
Whilst I agree that this is a “positive spin” piece, I also know that Farrell Heyworth are a decent agent with a lot of decent people.
I also don’t understand your attack on people who choose to work self employed, or what it has to do with this article?
It wasn’t an attack on your buddies Neil. In my humble opinion there is a fine line between positive spin and delusional statements. If you can’t afford to continue trading with a certain footprint and you need to downscale, isn’t it best to be honest? There isn’t anything “super” about shrinking a business.
Almost every day a failing agent announces “I have found the next best thing” and it’s starting to wear thin. It’s called cutting your costs and retreating.
You must be really fun at parties………………………….
AlwaysAnAgent – What a poorly informed and outdated summary!
Looks to me like FH are taking sensible measures to protect their business and their staff against the forthcoming cold winds of recession, and unlike many who are still running around thinking they’ll be fine as they are because their diary is full this week and next, FH will no doubt still be around looking after their clients and customers – and those of their current competitors – when some of those other short-sighted firms have been forced to close their businesses for good.
Anyone who thinks that you have to have a shop front in every town in which you operate to give a brilliant estate agency experience to your customers is out of touch. Boasting out how many branches you have – that’s just vanity. No-one cares. To get through the next few years, estate agency PPDs need to plan for sanity, and to listen to their customers and deliver the services the way people in their area want, now and in the future.
And yes, I am essentially a ‘traditional agent’, with some high street branches, but adapting to the present and future, with some staff in the office, some working from home, and operating twilight shifts and … to be quite honest … all because we have listened to what our customers and clients want, which is for us to be there for them, accessible by phone, email, social media or however they wish to reach us, in and out of work hours, to give them the best opportunity to sell or rent their home, and find a new home.
We are operating in a new era, with the dynamics of Covid, Brexit and a severe recession likely to be with us for some years. So why go to town to kick those who are taking responsibility for their businesses and squaring up and preparing for that future?