Leaders has acquired well-known home counties estate agency Aston Mead in a deal which takes it past the 100-branch milestone.

Meanwhile, another well-known agent in its locality, Roberts Newby in south Buckinghamshire, has been bought by Strutt & Parker.

Both deals have been for undisclosed sums.

Aston Mead trades from Epsom, Walton-on-Thames, Weybridge and Woking where Leaders will be merging the business with its existing branches; as well as from Sunningdale and Chertsey, which are new areas for Leaders and will take the firm to just over 100 branches.

Leaders, which recently diversified from lettings-only into both sales and lettings, passed another significant milestone recently when it welcomed its 1000^th member of staff following the acquisition of IMS Letting in Derby last month.

Matthew Light, Leaders’ former finance director who recently took up the new role of acquisitions director, said:  “We extend a very warm welcome to all our new staff and clients who join us from Aston Mead.

“This is a landmark moment for us, having started out as a single office with just two members of staff in Brighton 32 years ago.

“We are proud of our success and excited about our future as we continue to extend our service into new areas of the UK.”

Leaders’ buy and build strategy has led to rapid expansion through the acquisition of good-quality businesses with branches in areas where it has no branch presence, as well as the acquisition of property portfolios to strengthen its established branches.

In most cases Leaders retains all the staff of the companies it acquires to strengthen its local market knowledge and ensure a continuity of service for its clients.

Aston Mead is an award-winning estate agent with an outstanding local reputation. All the staff have joined Leaders, while the vendors, brothers Adam and Charles Hesse who established the agency 15 years ago, have left the business.

They will focus on their land, planning and new homes development business – www.astonmead.land – and will work alongside Leaders, referring new home sales to them in an ongoing business partnership.

Charles Hesse said: “The decision to sell your business can never be an easy one and when it came to deciding who the new owners should be, we chose very carefully. We are delighted with our choice.”

In the Roberts Newby acquisition, Strutt & Parker has acquired the firm’s two offices in Gerrards Cross and Chalfont St Giles, with 22 staff all transferring in the sale.

Roberts Newby is led by Simon Roberts, who will become an equity partner at Strutt & Parker.

Strutt & Parker has 38 residential estate agency teams throughout the UK and this acquisition represents its expansion into Buckinghamshire.

Pictured from left after the Leaders deal are Matthew Light, Adam Hesse and Charles Hesse