property 39
Romans and Leaders combine
Fast-growing Thames Valley-based estate agency Romans has achieved a strategic pairing with specialist lettings agency Leaders to create a new national property services partnership – a combined powerhouse now perfectly positioned to capitalise on positive market conditions in the south-east. John Burbedge asked Peter Kavanagh, Group MD of Romans Group, to reveal more about this ...
Property sector ‘merger of best practice’
Q: Congratulations. What does the merger mean business-wise for the combined companies?
A: “Leveraging the respective expertise and best practice of each company across the group will further enhance the service we both provide to our landlords, tenants, buyers and sellers. In particular, we’ll now cover a much larger geography. The Leaders brand reaches from the south coast to Manchester whilst the Romans brand is concentrated in the Thames Valley and west London area. Lettings, property management and sales are now offered across the entire network, and we are looking at introducing surveys, land, new homes and mortgage services on a wider scale. Boyer, our Romans Group planning division, will continue to offer planning consultancy from Wokingham, Twickenham, central London, Cardiff, and Colchester.”
Q: PE firm Bowmark Capital has helped draw the two companies together operationally, but will Romans and Leaders maintain their separate branding, culture and autonomy?
A: “The two brands have a lot of heritage and it’s important for our people, customers and clients that we protect this. The brands will continue to trade independently and maintain their unique cultures, whilst sharing best practice across the group. This will create opportunities for employment and promotion, as well as a more end-to-end service for our customers.”
Q: How much of a perfect ‘jigsaw fit’ is this merger of Romans’ expertise in residential sales with Leaders’ knowledge in lettings?
A: “Our leadership team is passionate about growing the business, keeping it best-in- class and developing more sophisticated and relevant services for our clients. There are definitely efficiencies to be generated, but these are typically service-led, such as expanding our surveying business across a wider geographic network. Ultimately we will continue to invest and grow both businesses through organic expansion and acquisition.”
Q: Strategically, the merger enables your new group to focus on the fast-growing private rental
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – JULY/AUGUST 2016
sector. How much of a south-east commercial opportunity is that?
A: “Demand for rental properties continues to increase due to the growing population, the shortage and higher cost of housing, and the increasing proportion of younger adults who see renting as a preferred lifestyle choice. The merger ensures the group is optimally positioned to support the growing private rental sector.”
Q: How are the Autumn Budget tax changes, aiming to clampdown on buy-to-let, actually impacting the housing market this year?
A: “There have been some moves against landlords with targeted increases in stamp duty and the removal of certain tax benefits. This surprises me as I thought the Government would have wanted to encourage good quality accommodation choices for people. Squeezing landlords is not the solution to improving this availability. Providing more decent quality housing stock and volume opportunities is.”
Kavanagh worries that, although property is still an attractive investment proposition, more government regulation could force landlords to pass on costs to tenants, making rental stock more expensive for tenants. “More regulation simply makes landlords’ responsibilities more onerous and highlights the importance of specialist professional advice.”
Q: How does this merger help businesses in our region?
A: “Well, firstly it helps our customers and clients. Take landlords, for example. Through the wider network, we are able to present a greater choice of investment opportunities, and our clients still have peace of mind that they are ultimately dealing with the same company.
“Job creation will also continue. In 2015 Romans employed over 200 people, nearly all from the local area. The bigger business will create more opportunities as we expand and become more sophisticated. There will also be opportunities for local suppliers, many of whom we have worked with for over 20 years.”
businessmag.co.uk
The scale and potential of the merger
Described as a “merger of best practice“, the new Romans and Leader working partnership creates a leading lettings-focused property services group that is “greater than the sum of the parts“, said Mark Salter, a partner in Bowmark Capital, the PE firm that backed MBOs at Leaders in 2010 and Romans in 2013.
Leaders, which has 118 branches specialising in lettings, joined Romans to form Property Services Holdings. The group now has 145 branches with combined revenues of £100 million, more than 40,000 properties under management, plus expertise in residential sales, new homes, land, planning, surveying, mortgage advisory and auctions.
With Bowmark’s support, Brighton-founded Leaders made 11 acquisitions and added 32 new branches last year, and Romans has doubled its offices in the past four years.
romans.co.uk 01344-753108
pkavanagh@romans.co.uk
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