Beleaguered challenger portal OnTheMarket has recruited the 25-branch south of England agency Goadsby and says this takes its total of sales and lettings offices to over 6,500 - if ‘letters of intent’ are included.
In line with the pattern established in other OTM press releases regarding agency joiners, a statement from the portal quotes Goadby chief executive David Errington praising the absence of “distracting non-property advertising or unhelpful information.”
OTM chief executive Ian Springett says: “We are extremely pleased to be welcoming a firm of the size and quality of Goadsby. This latest multi-branch firm to join us is another terrific example of how our momentum is building.”
Goadby will continue advertising on Rightmove; it was not on Zoopla.
OTM says its statement earlier this year claiming the “overall support” of over 6,500 offices including those signing letters of intent remains valid; it is not known if this figure includes agents who believe they have disengaged from the portal and are now caught up in various stages of legal action involving OTM parent company Agents’ Mutual.
Meanwhile the Competition and Markets Authority has confirmed that its open letter of last week - warning agents not to collude in their choice of portals to use or ‘drop’ - would apply to those agents eventually becoming full members of OTM via letters of intent.
A CMA spokesman told Estate Agent Today that no comment on any individual agencies whose past portal decisions may be under review by the authority would be made until or unless there was action taken.
“Assuming there’s no change to competition law, the same will apply to estate agencies that have still to make their choice in six weeks or six months from now” he says.
Ian Springett, writing in business newspaper City AM, says the CMA has been very clear in cautioning agents to act independently and not to collude - “we welcome that stance and have consistently given agents precisely the same advice to make any portal selection decisions independently” he says.
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6,500 ''including letters of intent'' - laughable.
Question: Can anyone buy their lunch at their local Pret by showing one of those 'Letters of intent'?
If so, I will get hundreds for myself over the next week or so.
I wonder how much the Goadsby Group are paying per office, per month to OTM...
Not much, I guess!
Matt, is it about profit or market share? Are OTM looking to be the most profitable or are they looking to be number 2 this year?
The point I am raising John, is not actually profit related.
What I am referring to, is the "up and down" subscription fees being offered by portals who are desperately trying to win more business...
At least with Rightmove, you can pretty much bet that you are paying the same fee per month as another agent, who may be two doors up the road and competing for the same business.
On the subject of profit though...
Who wants to run a business which is not profitable?
If the CMA step in next stage, OTM and AM may not be her later this year John.
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