PROFILE
Twenty questions
Sheila Manchester asks Dominic Agace, CEO, “What makes Winkworth work?”
Q Founded in 1835! Winkworth must be one of the oldest agencies in the UK, where did it all begin? It all began in Mayfair, marketing country estates and providing accommodation for those coming to town for the season.
Q Aside from the obvious financial perspective, has becoming a PLC brought any other benefits? The main benefit is the profile it has added to the business. It has also brought momentum to all parts of our business as we now operate under the pressure and spotlight of the public market. This makes us a better and more dynamic organisation.
Q How many branches do you have now in the UK and overseas? 58 in London; 19 across the rest of England; 11 in Portugal and France.
Q What are your main target locations for growth? We are looking to grow in national and international markets that complement our existing network and in particular our extensive London coverage.
Q The Wall Street Journal reports that you are looking at acquiring another brand. Is that true? We are looking at franchise brands that operate in different market to Winkworth. This way we can use our skills and add to our speed of growth and overall UK market share.
58 OCTOBER 2010 PROPERTYdrum
A pure franchising
model allows us to focus and invest in the platform we provide to our franchisees.’
Q Opening overseas branches is a dream for most UK agents, so how do you do it? Are your overseas branches franchises too or are they corporate branches? It is a mix. We have brought in companies to create an initial platform, in countries such as France, and we have converted existing agencies such as in Portugal. There is no one size fits all approach, and we use the full array of options at our disposal to grow the business. That said, our approach is driven by looking to work with the great operators in all new markets national or international.
Q Do UK staff go over to work in Portugal or Provence? There is some movement between offices as negotiators look for wider experience in different environments, but no long term moves are being undertaken currently.
Q Are all your new branches franchises now? Yes we have believed in a pure franchise model for many years, to mix up the business can lead to conflicts of interest, and having a pure franchising model allows us to focus and invest in the platform we provide to franchisees. This is particularly important in difficult markets, when loss making offices may detract from the resource that could support franchises.
Q Some businesses ‘convert’ to being a Winkworth franchisee. Has that proved a popular concept? This has happened in a number of cases, and it is an area we would like to develop as a method of growth as we feel our model is perfectly suited to add value to existing independent agencies. In essence, converting to a Winkworth franchise can help those agencies that are currently not in the top three agencies in their town, in terms of being called out to value a property, to be in the first three calls. It also helps these agencies to break past the price ceiling of £1m on their instructions. We have also raised funds as part of our listing to invest in independent agencies to help re-capitalise good agencies in this difficult market.
Q Is it difficult to find good franchisees who have enough money to establish a business? It is more difficult now that bank lending has tightened. However, we received 82
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