Hunters, the property group co-founded by MP Kevin Hollinrake, has reported that income earned by its network of offices rose 1.4% last year to £39.4m.
The group’s annual results reveal a slight dip in the number of branches at 201 as at February 28 this year, down from the 213 it had at the end of 2017.
Hunters has some owned branches, but is almost entirely franchised. Out of the 201 outlets, 189 are franchised.
Average revenue per branch reached £200,000, up from £182,000 in 2017.
However group revenue – the money earned by head office from franchisees, income from owned offices and revenue from services such as financial services – was slightly down, 1.3% to £14m.
Hollinrake, chairman of Hunters, said: “We are delighted to report another strong set of results in what has been a challenging market.
“In 2018, we increased network income, income per branch, customer service rating and adjusted both profit before tax and earnings per share under our strategy to attract and improve businesses.
“For 2019 we expect activity levels to remain subdued and the impact of the tenant fee ban disruptive in the short term.
“We see the developments in the sector as providing further opportunities and it remains our intention to invest in our technology to keep us in the best place to benefit for the longer term.
“We have opened seven branches already this year and I am pleased that we are seeing an increasing number of high quality independent businesses.”
Hollinrake said that converting to the Hunters brand enhances revenue and cuts costs for existing agents.
He said: “Independent agents that converted to the Hunters brand during the four years to December 2017 have grown their revenue by 21%
“Our economies of scale and purchasing power, particularly network deals with Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket with discounts of around 60% from list prices, can also significantly reduce key operating costs.”
Hunters said that across the group as a whole, the average Hunters branch has outperformed the sales market by 12% in each of the last four years.
Chief executive Glynis Frew said: “We’re delighted to announce another set of positive results for the group.
“It has been a disruptive year for the market but we’re pleased to see our model face up to those challenges and provide our partners with the ability to buck the trend.
“A key part of that is our technological platform and we very much see that as the industry battleground for the future, where Hunters will continue to strengthen its offering to drive productivity, efficiency and in the area of compliance to make the customer journey an enjoyable experience available for 24 hours of the day.
“We will also continue to place an emphasis on the importance of training through our Propertymark endorsed vocational qualification, which we pumped £500,000 into in 2018.”
Andy Bushell, franchise director, added: “We are seeing an increasing number of agencies seeking access to the benefits of a franchising model, and our rigorous selection process allows us to identify businesses with strong fundamentals and growth potential in place.
“We are pleased that our investment and this practical approach are at the forefront of addressing the challenges faced by the industry.”
The highly successful Hunters was incorporated in 1992, with brothers Keith and Kevin Hollinrake as founders along with John Waterhouse.
Left to right, the Hunters board – CEO Glynis Frew; president and co-founderJohn Waterhouse; Kevin Hollinrake; national sales director Martin Robinson; non-executive director Harry Hill; and chief financial officer Ed Jones
On a separate note……
“Our economies of scale and purchasing power, particularly network deals with Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket with discounts of around 60 per cent from list prices, can also significantly reduce key operating costs.”
Herein lies the problem for many agents Portal costs …..the smaller/independents subsidising larger agents. A clear reason why we’ll never see a consensus when it comes to resolving the problem of overcharging Portals.
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You have taken the words out of my mouth
A legitimate anti competition complaint is on its way to the OFT
Remember the statement comes from an MP’s own company!!!
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>A legitimate anti competition complaint is on its way to the OFT
What are you complaining about? That another company has greater scale and more purchasing power than you?
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Isn’t it usually the same in all areas of business, the more units you buy the bigger discount you get.
They may have it cheaper per branch but I bet they contribute a hell of a lot more than a 1 branch business.
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Matthew Beaumont….
“Isn’t it usually the same in all areas of business, the more units you buy the bigger discount you get.
They may have it cheaper per branch but I bet they contribute a hell of a lot more than a 1 branch business.”
Of course Matthew, I do 50,000 miles a year in my car so Shell/Esso etc charge me 60% less than they charge you, likewise McDonalds, eat more 99p burgers and they’ll charge 60% less?
I’ll remember next time to buy 200 Cheeseburgers so I get that discounted price?
B@llocks to Portal Discounting, list more, pay more! ……otherwise less listings pay more = discrimination against smaller businesses …..or should JD Sports just own everything?
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NEWS FLASH: Analysts at Berenberg Bank have sharply reduced their price target for Purplebricks by over 80 per cent from 470p to 80p.
Oh dear ….. is this the end for PB before the end of this year with its continuing loss’s mounting and investors now being told SELL, SELL, SELL. How quick can ball run downhill?
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Yes I am….. 🙂
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2019 and 2020 will be testing years for all agents. Survival of the fittest.
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‘Our economies of scale and purchasing power, particularly network deals with Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket with discounts of around 60 per cent from list prices,…’
Read that and weep people.
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£500,000 p.a. single branch agency paying, say, £2,500 a month (£30,000 p.a.) portal costs leaves £470,000.
Agency re-brands to Hunters, turnover becomes £450,000 (10% to Hunters), portal costs reduced to £18,000, leaves £432,000
Am I missing something?
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Discounts for multi agent businesses. Why are people suprised? It’s economy of scale. Anyone who doesn’t realize this, really shouldn’t be running a business.
Buy one tin of beans in Tesco, you pay X, buy a four pack, you pay Y, so to speak.
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……and in a Nutshell your comment demonstrates the need for “The Independent Association of Estate Agents” enabling a discounted Portal Rate negotiation for members who select a particular portal/period of contract.
No difference with that volume comparison, and I’ll gladly participate in order to balance the gross disparity. The client seems much safer with that scenario than the crash n’ burn corporate.
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Wonder whether Mr Hill sat around the table when group discounts were discussed with the portals as he would be well aware of the deal that Countrywide brokered which would make many cry in their beer i suspect!
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£200,000 doesn’t sound a lot when they have to fund a branch, staff to run it and all the other ancillary costs that go with such an operation. Add to that Hunters take their % and there can’t be much left for the franchisees. Granted some will be generating way in excess of £200,000 but that means others are doing considerably less.
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