Foxtons Group plc has announced that its Board Chairman, Ian Barlow, is to retire once a successor has been appointed and in any case no later than 31 December 2021. Barlow has been on the Board for nearly nine years.
Senior Independent Director, Alan Giles, assisted by search firm, Korn Ferry, will now carry out the process to identify and recommend the appointment of Barlow’s successor.
Ian Barlow commented:
“It has been a privilege to have served on the Board and more recently as Chairman for the past eight years.
“Foxtons is an excellent company with a strong brand, great people, leading industry technology and deep branch coverage across London.
“A series of challenges to the London property market since the Brexit referendum, compounded more recently by the pandemic, have impaired our recent trading performance.
“However, the business has huge potential and I am confident that the refreshed growth strategy, agreed by the Board last year and set out in the Capital Markets Day presentation in June, will result in a substantial rebound in performance. There are already signs of this with adjusted operating profit for the first half of the year expected to be significantly ahead of both 2020 and 2019.
“Our strategy will take time to deliver and with only one further year to serve under UK governance rules I consider this is the right time to hand over to a successor to oversee its execution.”
In recent months the company and its board have been under pressure from investors.
Earlier this year nearly 40% of the shareholders voted against the company’s remuneration report after chief executive Nic Budden was awarded a cash bonus of £389,000 and £569,000 of shares. This followed Foxtons taking nearly £7 million in government Covid support including £4.4 million from furlough payments and over £2 million in business rate relief.
In June, Hosking Partners, which holds around an 11% stake in Foxtons, told The Times: “Hosking Partners believe the time has come for radical board-level change at Foxtons.”
Josh Ponniah, a partner at Catalist which holds about a 2% share of the company, was reported yesterday as saying: “We hope the company takes this opportunity to supplement the board with specific industry expertise and the entrepreneurialism required to ensure Foxtons is able to restore the market share lost since 2015, pursue growth in new areas, leverage its technological advantage and realise the untapped potential we see in the business.”
Foxtons’ share price in recent years has steadily trickled down to around a 50p to 60p range; a far cry from 2014 when it stood at 398p.
Step forward Robin Paterson ? The BODS are feeling the pressure .
Although Catalist are singing from the same hymn sheet as Hoskings who hold 11% perhaps they might have a louder voice,a seat on the board if they were carrying more than 2% of the shares ?
Barlow confirms that operating profit would be ” significantly ahead “of both 2019 and 2020 .Let’s face it so it should be.All they had to do was turn up.
Maybe with the contribution of Douglas & Gordon revenue might have pushed up close to £60m for H1? Still too many underperforming branches compared with their peer group, Dulwich being a prime example .
H2 might be a different story but hopefully the momentum will continue with perhaps some life being generated in the expensive postcodes .
Parting shot from Catalist
“We hope the company takes this opportunity to supplement the board with specific industry expertise ”
Should think shareholders in Purplebricks will be thinking exactly the same .
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Ian Barlow may have done some great things in his life, but he’ll be remembered as the guy who took £7m from the Govt in the hottest market for 7 years. He should have paid it back.
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I somewhat doubt he will care very much
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Directors of public companies who have pocketed furlough monies should take note of this.
Shareholders are on the warpath over bonuses being paid before furlough monies have been repaid and heads will roll, either now or in the next two years. They will not rest until furlough monies are repaid, or the Directors are changed for higher quality, more ethical and socially responsible people.
Budden’s reputation is in tatters and it looks as if the furlough pigeons are coming home to roost.
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Astonishing Foxtons has any investors left; just goes to show that estate agency doesn’t have a monopoly on employing thickos.
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