One year after American import Keller Williams changed hands in the UK, the man now in charge says he is confident of growth.

Last January the original UK master franchisor, Donald Morris, left the business. The franchise was taken over by Matt Fetick, Diane Griffin and Ben Kinney, who all own Keller Williams’ businesses in the States.

The trio went on to appoint the former head of Countrywide brand John D Wood, Ben Taylor, as managing director, and he took up the reins last March.

Today, Taylor is in day-to-day charge of a business that has three market centres, with around 90 self-employed agents.

The giant American realtor arrived in London in 2014, and went live in that autumn.

A year after launch, there were three market centres and 90 agents, with plans for two more.

At the start of last year, there were still three market centres, with 100 agents between them, with plans to open four more market centres, each with at least 30 agents.

Keller Williams has consistently said it has plans for major growth in the UK – but that growth has so far seemingly proved elusive.

Taylor does not disagree but points out that wordwide, Keller Williams is expanding by 2,500 people a month.

Although in the UK, the market centres have stayed at the same number, their geographical location has changed slightly: there were two in London, but these have now merged into one; the Leeds one continues as before; and a new one has opened in Glasgow.

Each market centre is designed to be a hub, where self-employed agents can choose to work if they wish, and where training and admin support are provided.

A feature – certainly of the London market centre – is that the agents and their properties aren’t necessarily in London, or even close.

Yesterday on Rightmove, listed under Keller Williams Prime Properties, London, we found 77 available properties for sale. They included homes in Gloucestershire, Dorset, Bristol, Slough, Maidenhead, Watford and Wokingham plus a bungalow in Aldershot and some apartments in Liverpool.

Taylor said that agents belonging to the London market centre “come from all over” – and that the model suits them “because it really works”.

In the UK, there is an overall master franchise; each market centre has its own business owner, a local franchisor; and each self-employed agent also operates on a franchise basis.

In London, there are 60: the draw for them is that while they must contribute £60,000 a year to the market centre, once they have done so, they can keep 90% of everything they earn. In Leeds, where there are some 12 agents, the contribution is £30,000.

The arrangement allows agents to set up and run their own businesses under the Keller Williams name – and this can be done very successfully, insists Taylor.

He will not be drawn on details, but says the UK business is now growing “nicely” each month.

This time next year, what would the business look like? “There are three market centres now, and there will certainly be more than that,” he says.

Each new market centre, he says, will have a minimum of 20 agents.

Today’s agents have a number of choices if they wish to strike out on their own but under an existing brand. There are a number of franchise offerings, including other US imports, but perhaps the prime example is Purplebricks, with its growing army of Local Property Experts.

“I don’t see that as competition,” says Taylor. “I am glad that the online option exists, because it provides consumers with choice, but there is a really big market for high quality service.

“This is not about building a Purplebricks or a Countrywide, but about offering agents everything they need to operate their own businesses.”