Estate agency recruitment specialist Rayner Personnel has expanded into the north of England.

A licence to operate the business from Sheffield has been bought by Damien Jefferies and Oliver Cooke.

Jefferies is a former estate agent in London while Cooke has been a successful car salesman for leading marques including Peugeot, BMW and, most recently, Porsche.

Jefferies worked for Bushells and Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward before opening opened his own agency, Sinclairs, which he grew to three branches in Notting Hill Gate, Bayswater and Paddington. In 2013, he sold Sinclairs and, bound by a non-compete clause, took time out of the industry.

He put the time to good use, last year writing a humorous book about his experiences over 20 years, Trust Me I’m An Estate Agent

Jefferies and Cooke will focus primarily on the cities of Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield, before expanding across the north west. They are the third licensees to be operating a regional Rayner Personnel business.