Attempts are to be made to form a new mutual body, complete with portal should members decide they want one, for independent estate and letting agents.
A meeting of founder agents is to be held in London in a week’s time to discuss getting the Charter for Independent Estate and Letting Agents (CIELA) off the ground.
It is understood that the meeting will be limited to no more than a dozen people, all owner-managers of their own high street firms, who have expressed enthusiasm for the project.
If they decide to go ahead, the ambitious target is for a membership of 10,000 businesses, who would be gifted majority ownership and control in the organisation.
CIELA would primarily be banging the drum for independents – but, crucially, also aimed at allowing them to hang on to their own data.
Literature which EYE has seen says the new organisation would represent the collective commercial interests of all independent agents, allowing them to take control of their future, “monetize the value of their collective data and repatriate the £5bn of value taken by corporates, portals and online agents”.
CIELA would also strongly back independents in the eyes of the consumer, and one of its main aims would be to run an ongoing public relations campaign, designed to help members of the public choose agents.
If the agents at next Wednesday’s meeting decide to go ahead, then CIELA would be formally inaugurated on March 1, with nationwide recruitment then following.
First would be the appointment of 12 regional chairs, followed by the appointment of local chairs covering every county and each London borough. All would be given shares in the business, as would all further recruits. Formal launch would be in September.
It is intended that entry-level membership will always be free, unless members vote otherwise.
The condition of free membership is the uploading of properties to the CIELA database, which may or may not be published as a portal later on, should members decide they wish to compete in that arena.
A spokesperson for CIELA said such a decision would be at least 18 months away, adding: “CIELA is concerned at what we see as the recent growing threat of dominance of ownership of agent data by third parties.”
He went on: “We would not intend to pose any competition to any portal, at least at the outset, and accordingly we would welcome all agents who can join and upload properties to the club database without fear of contravening any other portal’s rules.”
However, should members decide to launch a portal, the spokesman predicted: “This will succeed where others have failed, in providing a new challenger portal which will ultimately become the lead property portal.
“It would be free to members and direct traffic straight to members’ own websites if desired, and defend against the advancing threats of incumbent portals.
“Through potential technology partnerships, CIELA would seek to offer independent agents a more attractive alternative, controlled by the agent members themselves, without restricting any choice of advertising properties elsewhere.”
CIELA would be run on the principle of collective votes on issues affecting not just the organisation but the industry itself.
Members would be encouraged to refer fellow independent agents and would be able to buy services from CIELA such as utilities and web hosting.
Anyone interested can visit www.ciela.co.uk or email the acting secretary samantha.westlake@ciela.co.uk
I very much hope this is the start of a flow of interest into assembling a collective voice on behalf of independents.
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This is where onthemarket got it wrong..the public don’t give a s**t about independants.
We need bodies that let any agent in who does things properly..
i.e.
Office – for disabled, older, not techie people
Trained staff – what ever that means – cant train empathy, truth etc
Ombudsman
No sale No fee – not pay anyway model
doesn’t have more then 1000 complaints – purple bricks
Don’t lie all the time – online industry
etcetc
i say let the corporates in: they are people to ,,they need a hug as well..we need them more then they need us.
also imagine if rightmove opened now charging £1000…… would they survive? no ! why?
because they would have no agents on the site…so what can we learn..
get off RIGHTMOVE now !!!!!!!!!!!
i thank you
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There are over 4700 agency businesses that are not logically viable given their average listing volume and selling price.
Those are the agents who need a break and help with the economies of scale benefits that there larger competitors enjoy. There doesn’t need to be a new anything to open up all the corporate or franchise advantages to small independent agents
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Is this what you have been hinting at in recent months?
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Groundhog day …..
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The final paragraph is the real telling point.
Nothing more than a guy looking to gain reffersls to sell to.
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Nature abhors a vacuum. The NAEA has been silent for too long in looking after the real interests and needs of all law-abiding agents whether independent or corporate.
Agents need to come together, whether a small independent firm like myself or a large corporate. If we support the law as it stands, seek to change the law where it doesn’t work and show that good agents always have the best interests of customers at heart, we will achieve far more.
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Too busy on the board of Agents Mutual, dividing the industry, ripping off agents who are spending good money on a useless service and suing their members.
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Nice to see you’ve spent the last few months doing something useful – sharpening those claws – rather than just sitting smouldering and licking wounds…
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The court case over a breach of contract is a necessary one for a commercial organisation. Its not one I would have bothered with , I would have let Connells negotiate their way out of the embarrassment of a failed due diligence process and let them go.
I’m not convinced the court case is a good idea and if I had any say in the matter I would question if Connells can afford to lose the case. If I were them and bear in mind I can now estimate everyone’s KPI’s with a fair degree of confidence. Calling an end to this before the wigs go on might benefit all but the barristers.
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The late Tony Benn had five standard questions:
WHAT POWER HAVE YOU GOT?
WHERE DID YOU GET IT FROM?
IN WHOSE INTERESTS DO YOU EXERCISE IT?
TO WHOM ARE YOU ACCOUNTABLE?
HOW CAN WE GET RID OF YOU?
I have a sixth.
WHO ARE YOU?
Since this is now a publicised initiative may we please be told who is involved.
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Yes. Odd that nobody seems to be putting their name to this venture as yet. But google Samantha Westlake and you’ll get a reasonable idea…
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Curiously devoid of any telephone number, any names of anyone – other than the mysterious ‘Samantha Westlake’, who by looking at LinkedIn, may as well be the Manager from a GP surgery in Torquay…
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Charlie Wright apparently. Looking to gain subscribers to his software.
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Looks like it. Charlie Wright owns easymatch.co.uk which is hosted on the same server as ciela.co.uk. Samantha Westlake is also on the Easy Match customer service team.
Not sure why he would hide his personal details though?
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That would be the Charlie Wright who wrote on 11th December:
Agents’ Mutual: A slow motion train crash with agents on board
‘I can hold it in no longer. This is strictly my personal opinion, but one I feel passionately about. And fortunately, I am free to comment on it as the outcome of the Agents’ Mutual debacle is of no consequence to me either way.’
http://www.easymatch.property/agents-mutual-slow-motion-train-crash-with-agents-on-board/
No consequence to me either way? Mmmmm.
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Domain name purchased 9 days before making that post. So he knew what he was doing.
But to be fair, so what? Most founders will want to benefit and no one wants to give away their skills and knowledge for free. You could pick flaws in everyone’s argument.
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You are of course right London,
But what skills and knowledge does Charlie bring to the table? – Able to buy a domain and come up with a name?
I would rather an organisation / membership set up by somebody who’s main aim was to promote full service agents. Had the time and knowledge to dedicate to this.
NOT a chap who already has a successful business selling to agents and this is a bolt on to play with and generate a few extra sales.
Main issue is their is a conflict of interest and to do the job correctly he does not have the time or interest to invest in it to make a success.
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We agree on that. I don’t know Charlie and nor was I defending him. I doubt he is the right guy for this because as you say yourself there is conflict of interest and that could lead the mutual in the wrong direction.
But whoever sets it up will either need funding or at the very least have a vested interest. At least Charlie has stated what his is. Now it’s for everyone else to decide.
There’s a fair way to do it though. Everyone gets an equal share/voice. No single/agency benefits more than the other – so leads passed to agents based on postcode. No supplier is preferred over another – we all vote. We even vote on if and who advertises on the site.
The bulk purchasing power of the mutual would be extremely powerful – I know from personal experience. All agents would be treated fairly by having a voting system, forum to discuss their concerns and expert help when they needed it.
The main aim would be that those preferred agents pretty much controlled estate agency in the UK and therefore negating any threat from outside. That way codes of conduct could be monitored more easily and standards could be improved throughout estate agency.
This thing needs to be making money not burning it like AM is doing. If everyone gets together it can be done without any time or funding from members.
It could be that this article is the push we all need.
If some of you more respected members on here agree I could set up a landing page and member interest form like the one above and have it sent to 20K or so estate agents. It would be better coming from a group of respected members on PIE. Or I can exclude myself and do the same on behalf of any member. Or PIE could do send it out on behalf of all of us.
I know people are sceptical when you say something is free but we could at least try.
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Challenger portal…. I thought last year went quick but the 1st of April already! crikey.
Voice for the independents? Personally I felt AM #OTM offered that chance ie those who joined showed their vision, those who didn’t showed theirs (each to their own before you start)…..either way I think we are about as divided as the USA and UK when it comes to sticking together.
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On 18th January 2017 at the Royal Aeronautical Society Headquarters in London, a hand-picked selection of owner-managers of outstanding 1 or 2 office independent Estate and Lettings agents from around the country has been invited to attend a briefing on the possibility of becoming Lifetime Founder Members of the first ever national organisation to be formed specifically and exclusively for the benefit and promotion of all independent estate agents. If appointed, they will form part of the initial Committee that will decide matters affecting the club and its members in the future.
Provided that the required support is forthcoming, the organisation will be officially formed on 1st March 2017, after which time the Founder Members will be announced and we will be inviting applications for leadership of the 12 Regional and 76 County and 22 London Borough seats. The Regional positions will have seats at the Club Committee where their regions’ members can be represented.
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I can only applaud any efforts to do something so well done all involved.
That said there is no need for a challenger portal, portals are a thing of the past and have already begun to transition into their next iteration.
Those that have seen what I am attempting to do (in depth) will understand how the need to control and challenge the portals is diminishing quite rapidly to the point where two of the portals have approached us with offers of assistence. With that level of cooperation now beginning I am reassured that at least two of the portals have their agent customers’ interests at the core of what they do.
Being blunt NAEA need to pull their finger out and need to be seen to lead regulation. At present evidence of portaljuggling submitted to NAEA against one of their members is being delegated out to trading standards vi CAB. That is an embarrassing disgrace.
I rejoined the NAEA to drive standards upwards, I think I have and a few like minded agent have contributed quite a lot yet all that I have done is ignored by my the organisation I have encouraged others to rejoin.
Although I can see the motivation for CIELA, between NAEA and Agents Mutual most of their stated aims ought to be covered other wise the industry ends up a bit Life of Brian; The Judean Peoples Front, The Peoples Front of Judea, The Peoples Guild of Judea, Judean People Mutual, National Association of Judean People, the independent Network of Judean People, Rummage4 Judean People!
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Splitters!
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Perhaps the ‘awesome team’ member Samantha Westlake at easymatch.co.uk ?
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When I started to read this I got slightly excited that this was afoot. On face value it looks like the right way forward but reading a few comments i feel the same as before again. Obviously others have already done their homework on this and its not all that its cracked up to be.
If, as Robert May says above that the main portals are starting to smell the coffee then thats a big break through. Now all we need is a clean sweep of the boards at the NAEA, ARLA etc so they can stand up for us all properly like they should be doing.
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I am delighted to see this article this morning and I will be registering my company’s interest.
I pointed out the need for a trade body in my article prior to Christmas in the Eye.
http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/call-to-arms-full-service-agents-must-unite-in-a-changing-world/
Hopefully this group has formed with the capability to reach and aggregate the power of all good independent agents in a commercial sense.
There is a need to communicate on a mass scale the differences between ‘full-service’ and ‘online-only’ agency and I am not saying there is not a place for both, but as ‘full-service’ agents we need to protect and increase our market share.
I am optimistic about this, and feel the references to OTM are unnecessary. That was an idea that is offering a choice to agents and good luck to them; this is an entirely different concept and one that as a industry I think we should get behind and see what can be achieved.
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In theory you are right.
Why jump on board with the first person who offers it though?
It is obvious this chap sees this as a way to increase revenue not what is best for independent agents.
From the get go pushing products. Is that really any better of what we have now?
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Except he isn’t the first person who has offered it. All Charlie Wright has done different is set up a landing page and invited some of his larger customers to join up for a meeting.
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Mr Collins
‘smile please’ started a thread in The Arena a full year before your mention above – you can see it here
http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/forums/topic/a-fair-industry-body/
and in the run-up to that post, EYE (and EAT, when it was a decent place to pop in to…) is littered with a multitude of sub-discussions on the subject wherever an article provoked comment on the subject of ‘them vs us’ or trade bodies.
For this to stand a cat’s chance these people need to come out NOW and say who they are and what their aims are. If it is a bunch of connected chancers-with-agendas looking to get their snouts in the trough for any reason other than for the good of the industry and the public it serves, then we as an industry would do well to steer well clear of any involvement.
Am I ‘interested’ in what’s going down? Of course I am.
But I want to see what the tin says – and I want to see what’s INSIDE of the tin.
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There’s other ways to do this so the founders do not benefit as much. Or at least the members who do commit gain as much as possible.
‘Members would be encouraged to refer fellow independent agents and would be able to buy services from CIELA such as utilities and web hosting.’
That should read: ‘members will be able to use their considerable purchasing power to get very large discounts from independent external suppliers’.
We should know who the person setting up this is because it will require considerable work on their behalf and they will want something. It should just be a fair part of the pie.
If agents did sort themselves out and get together this could work. But it won’t work if it grows and is later sold to Rightmove for example.
There has been talk about setting up something like this from AgentV for weeks and weeks now and he didn’t seem to get much interest. As I said before estate agency is a very strange sector of business. If AgentV sponsored a post on PIE and charged everyone £100 PCM for the service he would get a lot of interest. But asking for nothing, no one wants to know. This has been done before in other business sectors and has worked amazingly well.
It is important to stress though, that everyone should be given equal rights. It is easy to set up online voting using a pin system for any matters that are considered important. It was run truly independently and everyone had true ownership and the benefits that come with that ownership. Our main aim was gaining leads and we did it extremely well. Our costs were extremely low as well because we had no hidden agendas.
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I suppose that’s why the target market for Charlie is small independent agents. He won’t get a look in from the bigger agents.
But why would agents pay for software when they can own their own with zero recurring costs. The main aim should always be to set up a portal, be it five years away. Once everyone gets on board there would be a deadline, then lights off Rightmove and lights on new portal. Rightmove die overnight. Just a few thousand listing agent properties. Purplebricks die a few weeks later as share prices tumble and they get zero sign ups.
This is exciting stuff whoever does it. I just hope no one gets ripped off.
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haha…. love it….. if someone comes up with that plan we could call it MutalAgents
The fact in all of this is, the public who matter the most to our industry (aka Homeowners) will not listen to the NAEA, CIELA, RICS or anyone like that… they are more likely to listen to say RM if they did a “Use a High Street Agent” TV advert campaign.
You have to become a household name to really carry any weight in shifting opinion with joe public…..and nobody it seems in the UK likes a “Organisation” telling what to do, especially one no-one has heard of biggin up one of the UK’s most hated professions.
RM will not support Indeps alone nor will Z (and why would they), so we need to create a household name which becomes a first stop shop for homeowners and this household name promotes the benefits of independents etc etc.
Or as we tend to do fight our own local battles and if we are winning, don’t give two hoots about the next village or agent and get on with our own business plans.
I hope the next round of OTM TV adverts promotes getting your local agent through the door to give you sound advice in achieving the best price…. if it is just “look on our site for houses” it will be another waste of millions. Is there any surprise you don’t see PB TV adverts promoting how to search for a house? more so how they can help sell it.
Or perhaps OTM should have a “real life storey in a TV advert on how someone had Online Only Advice but went with more expensive but better value HS agent as they got £30k more than the Online Only suggested”
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Are you saying RM, Zoopla and OTM can survive without 95% of their properties?
Agents could set a date and make the big switch overnight. The portals would not be able to respond quick enough. 5% of properties means that even RM will close down overnight, regardless of any contract money owed by agents.
The new mutual would advertise itself, surely. It would be in every newspaper, every single day for months and months. All new property would be heading there. It can be done. You don’t need to spend anything on TV advertising.
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LondonR90 – I’ve been promoting the idea of invisible day for years upon years and phase 2 of OTM was my single biggest push for OTM to promo and they never did, they just concentrated on a “being number 2 message” which I know was the stepping stone, but it never really followed with a we will be number 1. (How many of us set our business models to be number 2 forever)
RM could be toppled OVER NIGHT as could any website which is a “one stop shop” should they lose even 80% of their stock….. as I have always said who would go to the supermarket with 80% of its shelves empty if the one across the road had 80% of its full.
I didn’t get too involved in an OTM rant to avoid the AntiOTM bashing….. but my old argument of:
If all Indeps had supported OTM from day one, when stock was higher (shame it is not now) and we had shifted all the stock from RM to OTM on a deadline date, there would have been real issues for RM…. alas, stock is now too low, corps have purchased many indeps and that chance for phase 2 ship has sailed. OTM has lost its chance to shift a large amount of stock and do exactly what you are saying which WOULD have worked in my opinion. I think I may have said this a few times on EYE lol.
My TV comments are: Forget all this Industry Body doing their bit for the Indeps….. nobody would listen……. we need to get a message to the public of how great we are….. do I need to spread that message down south? not me I am up north so I don’t care if my business model is working, but collectively if we had to get a message across only the TV or a Website visited by most home buyers will work.
OTM has not worked, in its current bid to be number 2. I was one of the original gold members (more the fool me perhaps) but nether the less I am 100% behind your idea….. but why has it not happened…… we are split as an industry even amongst the indeps…… so until OTM are number 1, and whilst RM will sit on the fence on what type of agent to use, PB are getting a message across on TV and no profit I know, but there is a message being heard….. so TV can work….. as I can’t afford a TV advert prime time, can OTM deliver a collective message for its members, not just “search here for houses”
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My argument would be OTM wasn’t set up for the right reasons. I see it as being set up by prime central London agents to further their business interests. That won’t appeal to any agency in London, let alone the thousands outside London. It was also way, way too expensive to join and a lot of agencies didn’t understand the one other portal rule because they saw it as limiting stock and not trying to get everyone on board.
OTM made Zoopla a target. Now Zoopla, who are way more savvy with their marketing tricks, are going after OTM every which way they can.
Why have a one other portal rule when you know it will limit member numbers and therefore stock?
Why weren’t agents like Foxtons on board from the beginning?
Why have so few founding agents who, in reality, are so similar in what their goals were going to be?
It was self promotions from the start. Now they’ve lost interest. So what now? Lazy marketing because they have member money until one day they just die.
A read a quote once…
Mistakes are, after all, the foundations of truth, and if a man does not know what a thing is, it is at least an increase in knowledge if he knows what it is not.
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I absolutely agree with you Ric.
OTM board really ought to be extolling the virtues of full service agents over call centre agents in TV ads.
But can they as a consequence of Savills backing of YOPA?
‘The truth is incontrovertible. Panic may resent it, ignorance may deride it, malice may attack it, but in the end, there it is’ Winston Churchill
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I think they [OTM] could and should still promo this and I don’t know even perhaps “put it up to a vote” I recall that 1 equal share, 1 equal vote chestnut from day one, so….. AM why not put to the vote, do your member agents want:
1. A TV advert promoting the benefits of Face2Face High Street local knowledge full service agents?
or
2. A TV advert promoting they show houses for sale on their website?
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Can I be in the adverts?
I’ve got a great face for radio, apparently…
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Haha…. yep PeeBee
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Interesting words here:
“When a new “opportunity” comes along, purporting to be for the benefit of the independent agents, it warrants close scrutiny.”
So… the question begs – when will we be allowed to closely scrutinise THIS “opportunity”?
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Without getting too student union = ELECT FOR PRESIDENT.
There is a regular poster on here who has connections with Redress Schemes, Industry Players, NTSEAT, NAEA, TPO, has been an agent, has been at portals, uncovered portal juggling (and is leading a team fighting it).
He is also developing software to help agents.
I am lucky enough to be privy to what he does behind the scenes (never me the guy!)
He may not blow his own trumpet on here, and is in my opinion too safe in his words.
But right here and now if a new body was formed i think we could do a lot worse than having Robert May launch / lead something.
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Completely agree.
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agreed
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Agreed
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Thank you Smile. In my course notes from my first ever sales course I have identified that as a buying signal.
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Looks like you have 3 or 4 others
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5……I agree totally. All I want is to see it happen and am willing to donate time to that end.
Inly just seen the thread s I am measuring up a property at the moment.
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I’m a service supplier Smile, the butler to the industry, I am paid if I look after you all, I don’t if I don’t.
I am happy to head up a company that does all that is asked of it but as I said above between Agents Mutual and NAEA the industry ought to be well catered for. I am genuinely flattered by your post and would love such a position if it were the best option for the industry or if no-one else would take on the challenge but there are people better connected and better respected who would do a better job (Chris Wood, Eric Walker and those like them outside my fairly intimate network).
I have successfully built a cirrus level cloud system that floats high above the other systems, it is in effect the necessary industry standard. I can help the industry apply it but my strong opinions about things such as compulsory qualification for valuers would soon have me upsetting too many member agents.
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AHEM… EXCUSE ME…
Can we all keep it down a bit? Please?
Apparently some of us cretins are annoying people with our stymying of credible debate between respected individuals.
We can’t have that – can we?
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I can’t remember ever seeing one of his posts in the comment section? I’d rather be pond life than a hypocrite.
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Hey, wardy – #HNY2017 to you and yours, matey!
The request/demand was made over Tw@tter.
I’m just letting folks know our input isn’t appreciated by ‘some’ people.
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This is for Henry or any other individual looking to profit off agents / our industry.
Feel free to charge for a product or service, feel free to profit from it.
But if you come on a forum looking for free advertising (which is exactly what this story is and a number of Henrys stories).
And try and make out you are saviors of the industry, be it a review site, service, product, membership or self promotion.
Do not be surprised if others like me (pond life) challenge you on the facts / details.
Instead of acting like a child, and insulting people engage in conversation, maybe learn why your idea / concept is flawed in the eyes of others. ITS FREE FEEDBACK!
To Charlies credit he has not come on here and thrown his toys out the pram. Bit of luck he will have looked at this and realised maybe pushing his products even before launch was a mistake, maybe he should (and will) build relationships with individuals within certain bodies instead and actual prove me and others wrong.
The reason spoilt children like Henry get upset and do not engage (just insult) is because he knows we are right and is not articulate enough to have a conversation.
A bit like the wally in a pub is loud, obnoxious and when you say he is being rather annoying and tone it down he lashes out because he is not bright enough to use words.
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So – I guess it’s safe to say that judging by the ‘Dislikes’, I’ve upset somewhere between one and four people with this post.
Regardless of the numbers involved – the same response applies…
DIDDUMS.
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Well… a full day-and-a-bit has gone by – two complete work days for most of us – since this scoop hit our screens.
Let’s recap exactly what has happened in those 38 hours…
* The ‘mystery’ of who is apparently behind this venture didn’t take long at all to suss (hands up who cottoned just by reading the Title…):
* It set off the usual lively “debate” we all expect and have grown to love* when something ‘new’ is mooted around:
* It proper wazzed off a certain individual (*okay – maybe not ‘all expect and have grown to love” after all…) – to the extent that big words such as “pondlife” and “cretinous” were Tw@tted to EYE in the best show of dummy-spitting since Violet Elizabeth Bott departed from our 22-inch CRT screens in 1977 or thereabouts;
and that’s pretty much it.
NOTHING from the people involved (unless, that is, the ‘certain individual’ has a hidden agenda for being proper wazzed off – in which case it’s the worst ‘sales job’ I’ve ever seen…). NOT A PEEP.
Got to question what message that sends out to you, the target audience.
WHY the veil of secrecy?
WHY the scantest of detail?
WHY a ‘group of twelve’ to host the first meeting?
WHAT reasons for them being “hand-picked” – and by who?
As I said above – and I’m almost certain that I’m no different to the next person in this respect.
For this to stand a cat’s chance these people need to come out NOW and say who they are and what their aims are. If it is a bunch of connected chancers-with-agendas looking to get their snouts in the trough for any reason other than for the good of the industry and the public it serves, then we as an industry would do well to steer well clear of any involvement.
Am I ‘interested’ in what’s going down? Of course I am.
But I want to see what the tin says – and I want to see what’s INSIDE of the tin.
The floor was thrown open – the music cued and ready – but no-one had the ‘nads to step up and grasp the mike.
Worst ****** karaoke I’ve ever been to…
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It is early days, but the premise and objectives should be enticing to every independent agent in the UK. Genuine, unilateral support has been missing from our industry and this is one of the key objectives as we move forward. With the support and insight of independent agents up and down the UK we can create an organisation by and for agents that should succeed where others have failed.
There have been a lot of misleading offerings in recent years and industry-wide frustration at the current representative bodies and it is therefore understandable that many may be cautious of cynical of this idea. What is vital, is that this proposal will not proceed unless substantial support is achieved from across the marketplace so it is really up to everyone. If you want CIELA you have a group of incredibly passionate, hands-on, owner/managers from across the country that understand every aspect, nuance, frustration and hurdle that the industry and marketplace has to throw at them. We understand what the current failings are and what, we think, is needed to change this. It won’t be perfect from day dot, and it won’t completely transform the market overnight but it could be a genuine, powerful and passionate voice for independent estate & letting agents across the UK.
We’re passionate to support you and our industry……..but only if you want that.
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