Property Industry Eye understands that the well-known firm of Douglas & Gordon Ltd has today gone into Administration. If confirmed this will be a very high-profile property industry failure.
Sources tell us that staff were told of the development by MD James Evans at meetings in which it was revealed that Grant Thornton has been appointed as Administrators.
It is less than a year since Foxtons sold off the business to Evans for a ‘nominal consideration’ having previously purchased D&G for £15.5m. At the time Foxtons’ chief executive officer Nic Budden said:
“D&G has performed extremely well over the last ten months under Foxtons ownership and this next step is a real win-win for both parties to the transaction.”
There is now speculation as to what the Administrators will do with the business, which has around 10 branches in London. Options may include a sell-off or a liquidation. This evening the D&G website is still live.
EYE will bring you more news on this story as it develops.
Foxtons shareholders set to approve Douglas & Gordon sales division sell-off
Oh that is very sad. Probably my all time favourite London estate agency brand and business.
Apart from being a long-term marketing (photos, floor plans, brochures) client where I learned so much about agency from my relationships with Ivor Dickinson, Ed Mead and all their branch managers, they were one of the first clients of my first web based agency CRM product. Producing their management reports is where I really cut my teeth on understanding the financial dynamics of estate agency, as they were growing and opening offices.
For me, D&G was the brand that was best at the balance of the personal touch, the professional service, the passion for property and its people, and the Christmas parties were unforgettable.
Ivor D was the beating heart of that business and it was never the same without him. RIP D&G. Thanks for all you did for me, including some great, lasting friendships to this day with some special people.
Another beautiful brand wasted by soulless corporate buyers.
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Very sad news. Remember them fondly in their heyday with some exceptional marketing.
thoughts are with everyone affected.
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Paul Smith’s comments yesterday were absolutely spot on. Those that want to survive will need to dig in deep, I get a real feeling that Paul and SH are very much in battle mode.
As a spectator on the sidelines I genuinely feel he is spot on, and has been with everything he has said about the disrupters…Fair play.
I wish everyone the best at this difficult time indeed.
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Sadly this was always going to happen. Foxtons said at the time of the sale it had no value.
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Estate agency really is a feast and famine business, when it is good it is very good and when it is bad it is horrid. Taking on a business when the market is tight is a gamble that the market will change. As we have seen many times the market can shift very quickly from being bad to good and vice versa, It is all about timing but unfortunately it is hard to know when the market will turn. I feel very sorry for all concerned, at some point the market will turn and no doubt if D&G are still around in some form they will have another good run. They are a great name, one for Dexter’s perhaps?
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This is what happens when a company is sold, purely for its lettings book, so inevitable in my view. Unfortunately, when it came to selling the business, no consideration was made for the brand and the long-term vision that the purchaser had, for that it must’ve been purely financial why they chose Foxtons
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