A seven-branch agency in Norfolk is opening its doors as Hunters as from today.
Kudos Residential will be rebranding all its branches this week after taking the decision to become a Hunters franchisee.
It is the first time that Hunters has had a presence in Norfolk although last October it opened in Bungay, Suffolk, breaking into the East Anglia market.
Hunters, whose chairman Kevin Hollinrake is an MP, now has over 150 branches across the country, and is aiming to expand to over 500 within five years.
Glynis Frew, managing director of Hunters Property Group, said: “This is another exciting milestone for Hunters.
“As we continue to widen our reach, we are delighted to have Kudos Residential on board and look forward to what promises to be a very successful future working together under the Hunters umbrella.”
Kudos Residential was founded in 2009 and has offices in Norwich, Hellesdon, Brundall, Poringland, Long Stratton, Great Yarmouth and Gorleston.
Chris Starkings, director of Kudos Residential, said: “The national network that Hunters offers is of huge benefit to our local offices – particularly the reach it has in London.
“A lot of our customers are moving from London, cashing in and buying up at the Norfolk coast or Broads area.
“We will remain independent and 100% locally owned, but our clients will now benefit from being part of an established brand with a national marketing campaign.”
Comments (5)
I cant understand why, what seems a thriving business (assumption made on number of offices) Would want to become part of a franchise model? – I must be missing something!
Instead of just hitting the dislike button , why not tell me what i am missing?
To me, They give up a proportion of their income, they have to go to the expense and rebrand, they are more restricted on how they can run their business, if they ever want to sell out to a large corporate they will not get as much, locally the Hunters have no presence so little is achieved, disruption in working environment and possible detrimental staff moral.
The plus they have a more well known brand outside the area they operate in.
What have i missed?
Thanks for your comments. Perhaps these were similar views to those that I once had before meeting the team at Hunters. We have a very good business locally, but by joining Hunters we now have access to industry leading training, a network of offices including 29 in London, which is really important to us as previous members of The Guild, and support in Lettings to make sure we are always leading the way with any new legal info or changes.
A great USP for Hunters is that we are all the business owners, which means we can run the business as we like, as long as we follow the Hunters brand guidelines. If you are a good business, there are no restrictions – we offer excellent service and marketing, they purely support us!
Lastly, our staff and customers have been amazing, the re-brand has been a lot of hard work, but our marketing strategy and launch has worked phenomenally. Hunters marketing department have worked so hard for us.
Thanks, Chris
Director of Hunters Norfolk & Suffolk
Ps. we would never sell to a corporate – we are independent through and through!
Thanks for your response Chris,
Glad it works for you and wish you and your team the very best of luck.
Ps. Never say never, some of the figures i have heard the corporate offering are outrageous 😉
Great news for all the members of Hunters and Country Properties as well as our clients.