Countrywide has appointed a new non-executive director.
Amanda Rendle, who will be a member of Countrywide’s audit and risk committee, is a non-executive director of Tesco Bank, a role she has held since 2016.
She began her career at Barclays Bank, and has run her own consultancy, focusing on customer experience. She spent 16 years at HSBC in a marketing role. She is a Fellow of the Marketing Society.
She is currently also deputy chair of Keep Britain Tidy.
In conjunction with her appointment, fellow Countrywide director Natalie Ceeney will step down from the audit and risk committee to develop her newer role as chair of the remuneration committee.
Countrywide recently appointed a new chief operating officer, Bruce Marsh, who was previously finance director at Tesco.
By coincidence Countrywide’s former CEO Alison Platt – whose retail experiment with the firm ended in her departure – is a non-executive director of Tesco, a post she has held since 2016.
Countrywide executive chairman Peter Long said: “I am delighted to welcome Amanda to the board of Countrywide. She brings a wealth of experience from a business career that spans financial and professional services.
“Her particular experience in marketing and her broad commercial skills and experience will complement the board.”
Countrywide’s shares closed down some 2% yesterday, at 4.8p.
Comments (12)
I have 15 CW branches within a 10 mile radius of my patch still open.
I looked through their stock levels and sale agreed levels earlier today and frankly they are miserable reading despite what the lunatics on Linkedin say.
The average number of properties the branches have is 23 with a number of them below 10 live instructions (trading offices) and the average number of sales in the pipeline is just 11 with a number of branches (yes still trading) on a single sale agreed property.
I know, looking at their stock the average fee they receive is circa £3,000 Thats means 15 branches of CW have a pipeline of just £495,000 CW have a 33% fall through rate meaning they will only bank £330,000 form that in the next three months.
Wonder what a grocer will suggest to turn this round? I mean its not like they can charge 10p a bag to help boost profits!
One week its all on black; then next its all on red.
The only trouble is they only have halfpenny’s to gamble with.
This Goliath is now a spent force in the property world and does not seem to have the cash to be a large player again.
I don’t understand why Countrywide keep hiring from Tesco.
Costcutter and Kwik Save is what they need.
Dear Countrywide,
As the ultimate cost saving measure I enclose the attached ……1 Packet of Coloured Balloons.
Please pass around your Board of Directors and ask them to inflate with their Hot Air ……thereafter present them with their P45’s.
Now one can look in the Boardroom and see a colourful display which does as much for CWD as your BOD!
Balloons! One & All!
The reason they aren’t attracting agency talent to these positions is that no one would touch it with a barge pole! And they can’t promote from within as the decent ones that remain won’t touch it with a barge pole either, and all the other experienced talent went out the door in the 2015-2018 era. Quite simply, they are doomed, unless they pay an exorbitant amount of money for someone to come in on a one year fixed term contract with no ties to come in and fix it, then walk away with no skin off either nose whether it succeeds or fails. Problem is, they don’t have an exorbitant amount of money!
Unless and until the board is led by someone with an inspiring will to win and who lives, breathes, and totally ‘gets’ agency (having done it from the ground up!) this Titanic will continue to sink.
You would think they learnt from past mistakes.
Oh well looks like I may as well write off my shares.
Estate agency is about selling and letting property. It srarts and stops with the troops on the ground. Replacing generals who sit on their charger observing from afar with no experience of the daily battle these loyal troops go through is only going to widen the gap between those who earn the fees and those who think they do. There must be some hardened leaders out there who are fighting the battle every day on the ground who would be better placed to run the show. Or have previous campaigns led by clueless generals killed them all off.
Another cardboardcut out non -executive Director who collects directorships like girl guide badges arrives .They don’t seem to have learned anything
Akthough this is just a non -exec. appointment there is a paucity of Directors at main board level with direct property experence
Having spent tens of miilions buying successful brands stuffed to the gills with talented individuals you would have thought they would have found some space at main board level for some of them
Where is the promotion from within ?
You are correct. It is jobs for the boys, or the girls. Ironically, I wonder if Peter Long wants someone on that board who understands property and agency; they will know more than him.
HoW, you couldn’t be more right!!! When I joined CW in April 2012 and throughout my five years there, the business was built on people working flippin’ hard and then being promoted for their efforts. Everyone is senior positions had started their life out as a negotiator or mortgage consultant and worked their way to the top. Those people were culled in abundance by the Alison Platt regime, for the same reason’s Mrlondon52 mentioned about the current setup – Too much knowledge and too much business acumen amongst the lifer’s which is a threat to the mountain of exec’s that sit within the business idly going about their day making terrible decisions.
Couldn’t agree more yet another non exec. with absolutely NO agency experience whatsoever other than a high powered/well paid marketing role at HSBC which should be really useful NOT. No doubt she can always give her fellow Tesco mate Alison a call for any advice… oh hang on a minute best not. At least she can ensure the remaining CWD branch offices are clean and tidy as no doubt her role as deputy chair at Keep Britain Tidy ( really? ) must have clinched the deal.