Hunters has revealed its staff gender balance across its company and franchise network.

The agency brand said 60% of its 680 accredited staff members across its own Hunters group offices and franchisees are female, while the majority of agents coming through its training academy are also women.

However, while Hunters’ first and longest-standing franchised office was opened in 2006 by Rebekah Try, women are very much in the minority when it comes to franchisees in a network of more than 200 offices. Most of the business owners are men.

A spokesman added: “We have 28 female franchise directors (franchisees) working across 38 offices while the rest are men.

“Some of these women are sole business owners,  some branches have multiple franchise owners with both women and men, some work in partnership as husband and wife and  some work as business partners with one other person.”

Glynis Frew, herself of course a female chief executive of a PLC in her role at family firm Hunters, said:  “It is great to see industry female representation continue to grow and we’re proud that Hunters, along with many others in property, have been encouraging it for some time now.

“More and more women entering the industry can only be a good thing but we must not forget that the value of the contribution to our fantastic industry is not gender-dependent.

“Whilst the importance of female representation cannot be overlooked, it is also important to stress that recruitment is about getting the right person for the job and there should be no sense of discrimination at any level.

“Being a nationwide network means that we welcome a real mixture of communities and backgrounds, both from a staff and customer perspective, and that forms a crucial part of the way in which we operate.”