Zoopla keeps up battering of OnTheMarket with new attack

| Rosalind Renshaw

 Zoopla sailed back into its relentless attack on OnTheMarket within hours yesterday of confirming to shareholders that by the end of March it had lost 23% of its UK estate agency membership.

In its latest onslaught, Zoopla cites its own analysis, claiming that listings and instructions have been climbing for agents who have stayed on both Zoopla and Rightmove portals.

By contrast, it says, the average number of listings per branch for agents with OnTheMarket has been falling.

Again citing its own research, Zoopla says that OTM agents’ market share of new instructions has fallen by 15%.

Zoopla also claims that agreed sales among OTM agents are down by up to 10%.

Ian Springett, chief executive of OTM, said: “Without more detail of this Zoopla ‘analysis’ it is hard to take it seriously and it seems simply to be another desperate set of unsubstantiated claims geared to stemming the flow of agents away from it as they join OTM.

“The claims are directly contrary to the consistent feedback that leaving Zoopla has made no difference to instruction-winning capability.

“The claims also seem to be at odds with announcements recently by Countrywide and LSL, both major shareholders in ZPG and with some 1,400 offices between them listed on Zoopla. As recently as April 30, it was reported that for first quarter 2015 compared with first quarter 2014, Countrywide experienced a 13% fall in exchanges and LSL saw income from sales fall 15%.

“Meanwhile, only this week Spicerhaart Group, a major group supporter of OTM, has announced a surge in new instructions.

“Moreover, analysis published recently by Home indicates that our member agents are selling the properties they are instructed on materially faster than those who remain non-members.”

Zoopla’s full press statement says: “New analysis from Zoopla Property Group (ZPG) shows that the average number of listings and new instructions per branch has been steadily climbing since the start of the year for agents who have remained with both Rightmove and ZPG, whilst the average number of listings per branch for agents who have joined OnTheMarket (OTM) has been steadily falling.

“Furthermore, separate analysis by ZPG into both the number of sales and share of new instructions of UK agents between September 2014 and March 2015, reveals that the market share of new instructions for OTM members has fallen by over 15% during this period whilst those that have remained with both ZPG and Rightmove have seen their level of new instructions stay at the same level.

“The data also highlights that whilst the overall number of agreed sales declined 4% during this period, agents listings on both Rightmove and ZPG have actually seen their levels of sold properties increase by 15% whilst some agents who have joined OTM have seen their number of sales agreed drop by as much as 10% during the period.

“Lawrence Hall of ZPG said: ‘The data shows that the majority of agents who have remained with the market-leading portals are in a far stronger position and are growing their market share as a result. This analysis provides compelling evidence of the impact of OTM’s ‘one-other portal rule’ on its members as many vendors and landlords clearly see the benefit of choosing an agent who provides the widest possible exposure for their home when entering the property market.

“It is no coincidence that we have already seen dozens of members return to ZPG having quit OTM due to the negative impact on their business and we welcome back any members who have realised that we are a key partner whose sole focus is on driving them more business.'”

Springett said of Zoopla’s half-year results, announced yesterday, he remained confident of OTM becoming the UK’s number two portal by the end of next January.

He also revealed that last week, OTM sent a record number of leads to agents. He said: “Every month since launch, our membership, traffic figures and property listings have increased.”

He added that in many areas across the UK, OTM has already overtaken Zoopla with its listings.

Yesterday, City analyst Canaccord Genuity cut Zoopla shares from a buy to hold rating.

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54 Comments

  1. AndrewOverman
    May 21, 2015 at 06:58

    When will Zoopla realise that this “bully in the playground” stance is quite frankly tiresome and embarrassing?

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    1. Robert May
      May 21, 2015 at 07:18

      The Zoopla team won’t, it will be the  non Zoopla board members who will  suddenly realise that print revenues are at  risk.

      Here in North Devon Zoopla can not afford to upset AM too much,  15 AM agents provide the lions share of advertising revenue to Northcliffe and Archant, one is effectively Zoopla the other is powered by Zoopla.

       

      If  Webbers, Stags, GTH  Chequers   and all the rest decided to make a point in this area, they could!

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      1. HarryN
        May 21, 2015 at 09:34

        Robert – what are you talking about?

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        1. Robert May
          May 21, 2015 at 10:06

          Zoopla isn’t a 1 man  dictatorship, the disrepute being splashed all over the trade press on an almost constant and regular basis is  embarrassing  for all concerned with no benefit at all.
          Two print advertisers have strong connections to this argument and ultimately they should be wary of the effects on their revenues from this t1t for tat stag rutting..

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      2. Robert May
        May 21, 2015 at 09:43

        I am guessing that is enough likes for the right people to start talking with the point duly made!  If Ian talks to Malcolm  who talks to  Mike and Tim who talk to David who talks to Charles and Roger who talk to Peter and so on…… enough has been said.
        Agents Mutual  is strong enough here and that strength could  (imo should) be put to good use even if it just stops this petulant aggression being aired on a weekly basis.

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    2. 1stTimeBuyer
      May 21, 2015 at 14:43

      Since when is a business stating industry facts bullying?  How very odd.

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      1. PeeBee
        May 22, 2015 at 18:39

        Sorry – I know I might have missed something – but since when have terms such as “own analysis”, “claims” or “own research”… which could very easily be pure $h!t wrapped in Christmas paper… been readily accepted by anyone with half a brain here in the real world as “facts”, 1TB?

        How REALLY very odd that you would think so… although I suppose your share price depends on you and other saps swallowing the $h!t, dunnit?

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  2. Robert May
    May 21, 2015 at 07:01

    So  Zoopla  have agents  who  aren’t selling as fast as it is coming on,  OTM agents are selling more  than they are taking on.

     

    If you want to sit on Zoopla unsold  don’t use and AM agent.

    Valid point well made! 😆

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    1. AndrewOverman
      May 21, 2015 at 07:10

      We are OTM, instructions have not suffered this year and neither have enquiries. The quantity of OTM has been fewer, but the quality far greater. They’ve not sent enquiries from clients looking 30 miles away from my office.

      So what Zzzzzzpla has more page views and longer site visits, aren’t they just the Vendors who are researching what their home is worth so they can tell us at appraisal stage what we must value their home at?

      Bore off Snoozla, the industry is tired of this!

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  3. Paul H
    May 21, 2015 at 07:07

    Does anyone believe anything Zoopla come out with anymore?!

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    1. AndrewOverman
      May 21, 2015 at 07:11

      Yes they lost 23% of agents but made 10% more revenue, which means the remaining 77% are being ripped off?!?

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  4. markpne
    May 21, 2015 at 07:16

    Nice one andrew that’s why I left

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    1. AndrewOverman
      May 21, 2015 at 07:20

      You and about 23% of their client base. When they were giving away membership at £100/month it was fair enough. Then a rep came (first time in years) and announced we’d be going up to rate card price. No chance.

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  5. MarkRowe
    May 21, 2015 at 07:30

    This is getting exciting now! 🙂

    Proud to be OTM.

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    1. MarkRowe
      May 21, 2015 at 07:48

      If you currently compete with a Countrywide or Connells agent in your area, think about where your Zoopla membership profits are going and how this places you in the food chain….

      http://www.zpg.co.uk/investors/shareholder-info/major-shareholders-table

      😉

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      1. andy10000
        May 21, 2015 at 14:20

        but giving money to RM is ok though lol

        “Rightmove.co.uk was started in 2000 by the top four corporate estate agencies: Countrywide, Connells, Halifax and Royal and Sun Alliance.”

         

         

         

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        1. MarkRowe
          May 21, 2015 at 14:45

          Completely agree Andy, Rightmove is next on the hit list though. It all takes time.

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  6. Marketshare
    May 21, 2015 at 07:32

    When will portals realise that a rise or fall in instructions is not just about them? Portal marketing is just one element in an Agents arsenal when it comes to winning new business.  When was the last time any agent sent out letters or flyers emblazoned with ‘we use portals!’ as the lead theme? It is a given that agents advertise online through their own website and portals but in my experience that is not one of the key reasons used by the general public choose one agent over another.  Come on Zoopla, most of us have been doing this a lot longer than you have, take a long look in the mirror and repeat ‘I am just a service provider, I am just a service provider….’

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  7. Typhoon
    May 21, 2015 at 07:48

    Just realised what a clever chap Ian Springett really is. Zoopla’s pathetic, relentless propaganda machine that gets most of what it spits it wrong, has clearly been expertly used by Ian to keep his profiling costs down. Zoopla’ s continual rantings have given OTM massive publicity for free. Zoopla should listen and learn from the tidal wave of comments from the industry that we are tired of the ‘same old’ ****.

     

    They really need to accept thst OTM is here,and concentrate on elegant and honerable  ways of winning/ keeping their business. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such astonishingly unprofessional  tactics deployed any other business in trying to resist competition. I believe they are now in real danger of sickening even those who have stayed with  them. Having lost 20 odd percent of their customers already.

     

    Indeed,they have powerful shareholders. I doubt any of their major shareholders behave towards their competition as Zoopla does . Those shareholders must also be wondering what on earth they have invested in. They too will tire of the unprofessional and disingenuous tactics of  Zoopla. And if they loose any more clients, they may not be able to contain the slide of their business. It wouldn’t take many of their key shareholders to dump their shares for Zoopla to be in real trouble. Change of tactics needed boys.

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  8. Trevor Mealham
    May 21, 2015 at 07:52

    I talk daily to agents. Many who left Z switching to OTM are saying they are getting very little from it as the brand isn’t being recognized by consumers.

    Several agents are saying leaving Z hasnt overly affected business whilst still on RM.

    All said ive heard of 4 agents who are collaborating B2B with other agents who have left or served RM notice to save £100’s each month

    Without agents property content, portals would die. Agents best inlet for properties and outlets is one another.

    Being a OTM agent should be a concern following the recent cartel fine with a few agent brands that saw the agents and Trinity fined £735k. The fact rules ban online exclusive agents and forces some managers to not advertise in some advantagious places due to the one portal rule.

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  9. Property Ear
    May 21, 2015 at 08:50

    And all the while, with all you guys squabbling over OTM and Z, Rightmove go marching on. Ha!

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    1. Toddy
      May 21, 2015 at 09:41

      RM can wait…for now. Knock Zoopla on the head first and then we’ll see about RM.

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      1. Trevor Mealham
        May 21, 2015 at 09:47

        Don’t see OTM making two years

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        1. PeeBee
          May 21, 2015 at 13:55

          Funny, that – Alan Shearer’s games teacher said he’d never amount to anything, either.

          Seems you’re keeping good company with bad guessers, Mr Mealham…

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          1. Robert May
            May 21, 2015 at 15:11

            I was too stupid to do computer studies!

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          2. Trevor Mealham
            May 22, 2015 at 15:26

            But I enjoy your company PeeBee  🙂

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      2. Property Ear
        May 21, 2015 at 15:36

        RM are doubtless shaking in their shoes Toddy!

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  10. PeeBee
    May 21, 2015 at 09:01

    “Lawrence Hall of ZPG said:…”

    Ahhh – so Mr Hall is allowed back into his rightful position of Chief ******** Spreader!

    Good show – I was worried we wouldn’t be able to hear him from the bottom of the garden…

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    1. Robert May
      May 21, 2015 at 09:21

      I was informed yesterday selling surströmming is a job for the boss not the stooge.

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  11. Gump
    May 21, 2015 at 09:12

    I would like to know the Town Name vs Postcode figures for both OTM and Z.

    I am reliably informed that the general public search by town names and agents search by postcodes.

    Be interesting to see what a difference they make to their visit numbers

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  12. agentx
    May 21, 2015 at 09:37

    We saved 16k pa leaving Zoopla – OTM is creating equivalent leads already and increasing week on week. Our figures are as good as ever and since the election result have increased dramatically! Goodbye zooooplaaa.

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    1. 1stTimeBuyer
      May 21, 2015 at 14:53

      I personally do not believe that, but like any figures given on here.  Especially given that the average agent has a higher fee per month on agents mutual than Zoopla.  Good luck to you either way.

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  13. Trevor Mealham
    May 21, 2015 at 09:51

    AGENTX – YOU MIGHT NEED THE £16K TO CONTRIBUTE TO AM OTM if its found to be a cartel.

    http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/estate-agents-and-local-newspaper-hit-with-775000-bill-in-cartel-case/

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    1. Ric
      May 21, 2015 at 18:41

      oh here we go…….. ****** cartel again!

      Trevor – You do not have to go on OTM! choices! get over it and move on…..

      where theres a blame theres a trevor.

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      1. Trevor Mealham
        May 22, 2015 at 15:28

        Trouble is Ric – I’m right  🙂

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  14. wilko
    May 21, 2015 at 09:55

    It’s always worth remembering that Zoopla are only doing these press releases to try and provide investors with a positive spin, and to provide a smokescreen to cover the fact that they have slashed their advertising budgets massively, to the detriment of their advertisers.

    None of these aggressive press releases have actually changed anything in the industry……..and that is proved time and time again with the same responses, from the same people, on this forum.

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  15. GPL
    May 21, 2015 at 10:00

    Goodbye Zoopla… your tap is dripping members away!

    I left Zoopla…. and it made Zero difference, absolutely Z E R O difference!

    Mr Hall… come into my offices and I’ll show you that leaving Zoopla has made ZERO difference to my business.

    I sadly remain with Rightmove for the timebeing however having joined OTM for at least 5 Years I see a significant return on my investment with OnTheMarket.

    The real test is not the Death of Zoopla as a Property Portal, which it is already diverting from…. it will be the removal of Rightmove…. in the end that us all that matters for me… Zoopla are history!… no analysis required!

    I do see the Rightmove Rep and Company now concentrating on their core extra service paying members…. basic members like myself are of little interest… however that will assist in the medium term as basic members like me warm to departing from Rightmove sooner rather than later as they offer no real service/diminished value in relation to their monthly charge. The discontent is growing among Rightmove members… let’s see what the future brings.

    Keep shouting Zoopla…. thing is…. no one that really matters is listening. You have shown you have already lost…. nearly a quarter of your members walked away…. that shouts its own headline!

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    1. 1stTimeBuyer
      May 21, 2015 at 14:57

      For some maybe if won’t make a big difference, but surely this depends on a lot of things. Local branding, competition in the areas on the sites in question.  For others, if you know anything about on-line marketing, I guarantee are loosing lots of money because of going with an unknown small portal.

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    2. Property Ear
      May 21, 2015 at 15:40

      Why not put your money where your mouth is and drop Rightmove – isn’t that why you joined OTM in the first place?

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  16. The Outsider
    May 21, 2015 at 10:19

    Impact on competitors since OTM launched:

     

    Rightmove – Shareprice up 36.5%.  Value of organisation increased by £831m

    Zoopla – Shareprice up 31.9%.  Value of organisation increased by £227m

    As much as people mock the investor community, there is a lot of confidence being placed in these two organisations since the end of Jan.  Some will be driven by the economy, house price forecasts, election results and wider business strategy (purchase of USwitch for example), but alot of this will be attributed towards OTM not being able to become a competetive challenger portal.

    As was mentioned previously, all the rhetoric from Zoopla is for the benefit of investors and not agents or the public.  Their strategy is pretty clear and comes in a  few phases:

    1) Constant reiteration to the market that they are not being adversely affected by OTM, outside of initial forecasts.

    2) Ride out the OTM wave until they run out of money.

    3) Start the charm offensive with agents to get them back on Zoopla.

    OTM need to start ramping up their membership alot quicker than they are if they are to survive.  Marketing has died and will only be picked up when significantly more agents start paying subs.  If they are to meet their bold claim of having a bigger share than Zoopla by the end of year they need to more than double the number of agents on their books.  Thats to say they have to convince more than 5000 agents that were too sceptical to join in January that they are now worthy of those large monthly fees.  That’s not going to happen in my opinion.   They aren’t offering enough leads of value to demand this, and the Agents Mutual concept hasn’t yet shown it’s teeth and delivered anything as a group that would make an organisation think it is worth joining.

    The only way OTM surive the next two years is if they remove the one other portal rule, and lower fees.  They can then take a slow burn approach to becoming bigger than Zoopla.

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    1. Robert May
      May 21, 2015 at 10:49

      There is another way.  If AM open up a Copper and Tin  membership which excludes portal presence and the restrictions that go with it, Agents Mutual membership would fly through 10,000  branch target and create an affinity group with significantly more  influence  than it already enjoys  as the  most influential collective of opinion.
      Apply  the emerging G5 tech which makes portals look like the 1.44mb floppy disks that were about  when the portals first emerged and suddenly the game changes. My fiercest critics have seen G5 and all have said it has the power to change the dynamic. The best bit is it allows agents to compete on service and reputation rather than  in an artificial environment of constraint.
      I obvious simplicity of  G5 is a genuine “of course, why didn’t I think of that?” system that so favours agent  it is  beyond emulation by Rightmove  or Zoopla  but would be a natural  addition to features and benefits of AM membership as it symbiotic to OTM.

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      1. The Outsider
        May 21, 2015 at 11:05

        I have no doubt that Agents Mutual will remain once OTM has gone.

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        1. Robert May
          May 21, 2015 at 11:29

          I am not saying OTM would or should go.

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    2. HJ12
      May 21, 2015 at 11:24

      I think you are wrong…Zoopla won’t disappear they will simply change their business model – which they are already doing! It will become a data/information site. The residential sales & lettings will disappear over time.

      OTM have always claimed their target after launch is too sign 5,000 by January 2020 – quite realistic

      5,000 agents have also signed up for 5 years – therefore they will be around for at least 5 years, even if another branch is never signed- not 2 as claimed!

      As for their marketing they have been on TV every month so far and I also see their PPC and digital all over the place – dailymail, yahoo etc!

      We are happy with our decision and understand we have not signed up to a ready made portal but are working to build our own brand – which all takes time!!!

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      1. The Outsider
        May 21, 2015 at 13:00

        I dont recall seeing a statement saying their target is to get 5000 new agents by 2020, but even if that were the case then someone isn’t particularly good at maths in OTM because they are constantly saying that they have a target to have more agents than Zoopla by the end of this year.

        In order to acheive this, they will need to take 5539 agents from Zoopla before the end of the year to bring their current stock of 5000 agents to 10539 and reduce Zooplas from 16076 to 10537.

        The two targets dont stack up.

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        1. Paul H
          May 21, 2015 at 13:54

          “but even if that were the case then someone isn’t particularly good at maths in OTM because they are constantly saying that they have a target to have more agents than Zoopla by the end of this year.”

          Nope the target is to be number 2 portal by having more listings than Zoopla. The target for this is end of January 2016.

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        2. HJ12
          May 21, 2015 at 19:23

          Not the case Zoopla have 16076 membership this includes residential, new homes, overseas and commercial. I would guess their are 11,500 residential offices still listing on Z.

          In any seminar I have attended the target has always been to get to 10,000 offices by 2020!

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  17. jmeapps01
    May 21, 2015 at 11:01

    Funny reading an interesting that it is only OTM agents that are making comment. The rest of us are too busy taking business away from them. As soon as we tell a potential vendor that one of our competitors no longer advertises on a major portal that the buyers recognise it’s game over for that agent.

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    1. wilko
      May 21, 2015 at 11:32

      Like I said earlier…….same people, same comments!……If you ever bothered to read the comments then you would see there is a mix of all portal users…….

      But then again, this is your “cut and paste” stock answer to any article with Zoopla or OTM  in the headline!

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    2. Ric
      May 21, 2015 at 18:50

      hahaha you are funny! commenting on here that commenting on here makes you “not busy” thing is many of us on here have the time because of being efficient in the way we work with amazing teams supporting us!

      too busy to pop a 3 to 5 minute post on here now and again throughout the day – hahaha, funny I like it, I mean how you found the time to post that I have no idea.

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  18. jmeapps01
    May 21, 2015 at 13:08

    Ooooh someones a bit touchy! Never mind Zoopla stock has recovered well and still going up glad I bought more when it dropped to 150

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    1. wilko
      May 21, 2015 at 14:43

      Well done, and what has your latest comment got to do with this article?

      Thanks for proving the point I made about you.

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    2. GPL
      May 21, 2015 at 14:47

      doh! jmeapps01…. you’re a share monkey!…. keep swinging in your cage.

      OnTheMarket is NOT about share price, performance, shareholders… it’s much more important…. it’s about the Estate Agency Industry…. which you know very little about.

      Shuffle off to the Footsie!

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      1. Robert May
        May 21, 2015 at 23:44

        Steady on GPL  apparently most  scottish feuds stem from trivial causes! I am going to bed with the thought of you riding into Perth on your Harley like some woaded  Braveheart Hells Angel.

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