Purplebricks has confirmed rumours that it is laying off staff as part of a planned restructuring, with well-placed sources informing EYE that up to 15% of its workforce could lose their jobs.
Purplebricks currently employs 580 members of staff, and it is our understanding that the job cuts will see around 90 members of staff lose their jobs, with others already actively looking for new positions elsewhere in the sector.
The online estate agency continues to try and disrupt the housing market after announcing almost a year a go that customers could sell their homes for free as part of an operating model that replicates the one previously offered by Strike, which acquired Purplebricks 15 months ago backed by Freston Ventures.
But EYE understands that Strike has found the Purplebricks deal to be worse than expected, while there are growing concerns about the macro environment since Labour came to power, with increasing uncertainly in the economy and a Budget announcement that looks set to be bleak for businesses.
Purplebricks, which stopped trading on AIM in June of this year, has been trying to revive its fortunes under the new operating model.
However, despite a high-profile marketing campaign, including a media-for-equity investment from ITV with a value of up to £4.5m, the agency has been forced into making fresh redundancies.
A Purplebricks spokesperson told EYE: “Challenging the status quo is at the heart of Purplebricks. In the fifteen months since merging with Strike, the business has combined the strength of both brands, launched new products, and is currently the number one estate agency in the UK.
“As part of our transformation into a more agile, innovative business offering excellent customer service, we are currently in consultation with a number of colleagues as we continue to reshape the business. We recognise this is a difficult time for those impacted, and are providing support throughout this process and beyond.”
Due to market conditions!? 13% more sales ytd across the UK in 2024 than 2023. Surely this is just mis-management, another PB black hole for investors. Does the CEO still earn £260,000 per annum? Hmmmmm!
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Demonstrating what is already pretty obvious – you can’t sell houses for nowt and expect to turn a profit!
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If Purplebricks/Strike were an animal it would be taken away and put down to put it out of its misery once and for all !
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Seriously who is investing and running these large businesses?
‘ Strike has found the Purplebricks deal to be worse than expected’ Really! Strike should know given they invented a business that doesn’t charge anything.
It’s like going to a pub that offers a free pint in the hope you hope that you purchase some extras such as crisps, peanuts etc and enough of them to cover the costs of the pint plus the running of a very expensive business.
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Well done to all of us that are flourishing in the high streets , towns and cities up and down the country. When the .com bubble rapidly inflated we were (according to many, especially this type of animal) about to become extinct, irrelevant and here we are 25 years later still seeing off the likes of this lot and many many others. Hard work, innovation, motivation, a fair fee for a good service, delivered by dedicated local people, who care about their customers, wins through everytime.
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Quick check of a thesaurus, looked up PB and it read hubris.
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I have seen a few adverts on TV but the strategy by the board to promote the brand and most importantly their people has been very poor indeed -that really takes effort.
The sooner these and those similar wither away and die off the better IMO
The good news is companies are in recruitemnt mode as the market improves so hopefully some of these 100 will easily be able to get a proper job and I wish them well
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16th April 2024 :- Sam Mitchell, Strike CEO, said in his report accompanying the accounts that the newly-merged company was well-placed: “The combined strengths presents a compelling opportunity for the business to significantly disrupt the real estate sector. “Leveraging Purplebricks’ widespread brand awareness alongside Strike’s distinct approach to the real estate market, the company believes it is uniquely positioned to offer a strong value proposition,” he says
Looks like his optimism was ill founded!
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Can one of the industry experts on here tell us how much money has been invested over the years in the large online agencies? And what, if any return has been achieved?
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Well, I think Michael and Kenny might feel they got a decent return on their investment!
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All have posted huge losses. Not one has ever made a profit.
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Well well well…
It truly baffles me how Sam Mitchell continues to get investment. He has never turned a profit, not once. Yet, the monster grows and grows. As does the debt and the redundancies. I worked under him for a while through covid and I’ve never heard a CEO talk so much nonsense and get so many things wrong, particularly in his market commentary. His strategy always seems to be go against the general consensus, and that’s it, regardless of the topic! I’ve never witnessed him be correct, nor address all of the costly times he was wrong. I believe he fancies himself as some sort of Silicon valley CEO. Its more like Mark Zuckerberg from Temu.
Sad to hear the news for some of my old colleagues, but with that man at the helm don’t ever plan too far into the future.
He will hammer the nail in the coffin of online estate agency.
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