Franchising firm slashes joining fee to just £1,000 to try and tempt struggling independents

Franchising business Century 21 UK is slashing its joining fee from £23,500 to £1,000.

The deal runs until the end of June.

Century 21, whose UK franchise is run by SDL Group, does not seem to need to cut its price to attract new franchisees.

It claims it has experienced “phenomenal” growth recently and is set to open 14 more branches.

However, the firm said it wants to attract smaller, independent agents who want to use the Century 21 brand.

Head of sales and development Chris Summers said: “We know that many bricks-and-mortar estate agents have suffered as a result of online-only firms entering the market.

“The fact is that some are now really struggling and making losses is bad news for the property industry, so we thought it was a good time to launch our first offer of this kind.

“By joining forces with an established company like Century 21 UK, property professionals can give customers a wider choice of services, including auctions, surveying, estate management and mortgages, among others.

“As a franchisee, they continue to own their business and trade on their trusted reputation in the local area.”

The ‘Let your Business Blossom’ offer is open to existing sales and/or letting agents across the UK, subject to terms and conditions and VAT.

http://www.century21uk.com/join-us/

x

Email the story to a friend!



10 Comments

  1. Property Poke In The Eye

    Century who??? Lol

    Report
  2. AgentV

    I don’t understand why franchises like this don’t have a huge compelling reason for joining them. Why would a small independent take the risk of rebranding from their existing long term well known name to a ‘new to the area’ brand name?

    It makes no sense whatsoever, unless the brand can deliver lots of appraisals and therefore lots of new instructions. Why else would you possibly consider taking the huge risk of a rebrand route.

    I think there is a much better route than rebranding anyway.

    Report
    1. smile please

      We looked into the hunters one out of curiosity as we had so many letters.

      To be honest it could save some agents a fair few quid. The monthly fees was about half the price of RM and they got a lot for it. Including RM!

      If you struggle it’s a good concept. But if you are doing more than a couple of sales a month dies quickly add up.

      Report
  3. PAG45

    I met up with Hunters 2 weeks ago, they are offering a free franchise, a rebrand and cash to join! Yet to decide, but certainly better than C21

    Report
    1. AgentV

      PAG45
      Just interested to know what has made you look at this route. Are you a new start up?

      Report
      1. PAG45

        I have 2 offices and thought I would meet them out of curiosity. They can save money (RM etc) and they do provide everything I need. Still considering it as I need to invest in my branding/web etc so may as well use theirs 

        Report
        1. AgentV

          PAG45
          I know of another option worth considering as well. Would you be up for a chat by email …. in@agentv.co.uk
           

          Report
        2. Russell121

          I had the same dilemma but once you do the sums they pretty much get all the money they give you back with the spend you have to do on their marketing plan and you are left with giving them % of all turnover whether you make money or not.

          Report
  4. julianodell

    Will the 14 recent sign-ups get a £22,500 refund? That’ll smart a bit if they don’t, I imagine…

    Report
  5. PeeBee

    Until I spotted that it was a time-limited deal I wondered if this might be the trigger for the next “relocation” by the agency EYE reported on a month ago.

    But, then… as we have seen and reported upon, these “time limited” deals simply become the next permasale.

    Report
X

You must be logged in to report this comment!

Comments are closed.

Thank you for signing up to our newsletter, we have sent you an email asking you to confirm your subscription. Additionally if you would like to create a free EYE account which allows you to comment on news stories and manage your email subscriptions please enter a password below.