RESIDENTIALlettings
Franchising – taking the leap
Sheila Manchester spoke to franchisors who are welcoming new recruits with open arms.
E
state agencies are still going bust in significant numbers, many of those surviving quietly close non-key branches as the market fails to pick up. Where do the unemployed agents go? Some
start up on their own. Is this madness? 2011 could be boom time for property franchises; the attraction of an established brand, with the attendant infrastructure, friendly support and an ‘instant’ business, is undeniable. The traditional method of starting your own agency looks, these days, very scary; nobody knows your name, your brand and you have, as yet, no reputation and no credibility. In an increasingly tough market, those are big hurdles to jump. Franchised estate agencies are not new;
Winkworth, established in 1885, was, almost certainly, the first agency to offer its name on licence to those deemed Winkworthy; a careful process that started back in 1981. People using Winkworth in the eighties had no idea that the branch they were buying, selling or renting through was franchised – and many still don’t as franchisors don’t tend to promote the franchise element. They don’t need to; the training, support and indeed the whole business model, works to ensures that their franchisees present a seamless service. Winkworth had the franchise market to
themselves for 15 years until Belvoir and Martin and Co. came along to play. Interestingly, both of these focused on lettings, staying out of the sales arena and no other franchise offered a sales model (on any large scale) until Your Move moved in, in 2003, followed by Aspire in 2004,. Hunters joined the pack in 2005,
followed by Reeds Rains (part of Countrywide) in 2007. Other firms have also come in over the last few years as the franchise model became more accepted; one of the most recent being HomeXperts, which launched just last year.
12 MARCH 2011 PROPERTYdrum
Bright, buzzy and out there, Martin & Co has 170 offices
Size matterS Big doesn’t always mean better but in choosing a franchise, size does have its advantages, as opening an agency under the umbrella of an established high street brand is almost certainly going to be easier. The largest franchise, currently, is Martin
& Co, with a whopping 170 offices operating across the UK and they’re not finished yet. It’s the firm’s 25th Anniversary this year
(although the franchise only started in 1995 the firm has been trading since 1986), and their target is to open a celebratory 25 branches in 2011. Not far behind, arch competitor Belvoir
has, in 15 years, opened an impressive 140 branches and has plans for a further 10 at least this year, to be launched by both
The attraction of an established brand, with the attendant infrastucture and an ‘instant’ business is undeniable.’
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