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Speculation grows about Yopa’s future as LSL chief quits board

Speculation is growing about the future of online agency Yopa.

This follows a key resignation from Yopa’s board and one expert’s analysis that new funding may only be enough to help it survive for a matter of months.

Yesterday Yopa revealed it had secured some £16m in new funding from some of its earlier investors - the Daily Mail in the form of dmg ventures, Savills in the form of Grosvenor Hill Ventures, and some of the agency’s founders.

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However, former Emoov chief executive Russell Quirk said on Twitter that while he congratulated the firm on its latest investment, he thought it likely that Yopa actually wanted some £75m in additional funding. 

“They’ve raised nothing like they need to, and no one outside the business was willing to invest” he wrote.

And when asked how long this £16m might buy the agency, Quirk responded: “At their previous burn [rate] just five months. However they’ve scaled back their market spend so on the one hand a bit longer; but the problem will be that lower marketing spend equals lower revenue.”

One notable absentee from the list of latest investors is LSL Property Services - this High Street agency group was an initial funder of Yopa but has spectacularly written down this investment twice so far this year. One write down was by 61 per cent.

In March LSL revealed in a trading statement: “LSL has a 14.7 per cent minority shareholding in Yopa. LSL's previous carrying value of £20m for Yopa has been written down through reserves by £12.2m to £7.8m as at 31 December 2018 to reflect the Board's assessment of fair value.”

Meanwhile this morning it’s been revealed that Ian Crabb, LSL chief executive, has stepped down from Yopa’s board without any explanation.

Yesterday Anthony Codling - the former Jefferies analyst whose critique of Purplebricks’ sales record last year appears to have marked a turning point for online agencies in general - tweeted: “Investors usually allocate capital (invest) where they think they will get the highest return. Interesting therefore that LSL has (once again) chosen not to join in Yopa’s  latest £16m funding round. Does this imply LSL thinks high street trumps hybrid?”

And he continued on social media by saying yesterday: “Yopa’s no sale no fee package starts at £1,999 which is more than 2x that of its fixed fee packages which start at £899 (you pay these fixed fees whether a sale is made or not). Does this imply that Yopa sells less than 50 per cent of the homes it lists on the portals?”

Other senior industry figures were just as sceptical.

Buying agent and market commentator Henry Pryor tweeted the news of Yopa’s new funding round - and the new marketing initiatives of another onliner, Housesimple - accompanying the message with an animated GIF showing money being shovelled into a furnace.

In May this year Yopa admitted that it had cut 16 jobs including that of national sales director as a result of a restructuring.

But it insists that yesterday’s announcement about the £16m was good news.

A spokesman told Estate Agent Today: “In terms of the level of investment we were seeking for this round – we sought £16m and the offer was fully subscribed from existing investors, negating the need to look outside. LSL Property Services has its own business to focus on and its own capital allocation decisions to make, but remains a supportive shareholder.”

And in relation to the suggestion that it sold only around 50 per cent of properties it listed, the agency told EAT: “We don’t disclose commercially sensitive information like that, but believe we perform strongly in this respect.”

LSL Property Services told EAT, in terms similar to those from Yopa: “LSL has a range of investments and has chosen to allocate capital in accordance with its stated strategies. Whilst LSL decided not to invest in this funding round it has retained a shareholding in Yopa and continues to be a supportive shareholder.”

Poll: What is Yopa's future?

PLACE YOUR VOTE BELOW

  • David Baldwin

    Another one bites the dust

  • Tony Sinclair

    Woe is me... Another Prediction manifesting into reality.

    Yopa continues to fall into disarray. Many lucrative areas suspended due to lack of agents due to substandard management who micromanage agents when they are supposed to be self-employed.

    New agents are put through the training mill so they can chase rainbows for a while until they realize they have to honor the last agent's viewings etc for free because the last agent has already been paid and 20p per mile is no compensation for time.

    Throwing good money after bad in any situation always ends up in tears and £16 Million funding at Yopa will simply not cut it unless spent on brain transplants for those streamlining the company and losing the best people (including agents) who originally started establishing the brand as a trusted one with great customer service.

    I will repeat my Prediction once more. Yopa will not survive in 2020 AD.

    It will either crash and burn or be swallowed up by a larger company like PB et al for its database.

    As the old saying goes.. 'If it's not broke don't fix it'. Well, Yopa wasn't broken but they tried to fix it anyway. The same old story behind many failed but once viable businesses. Greed, Greed and more Greed.

    Investors scream for more profits. Directors scream at top management who pass the pressure down to regional management who in then passes pressure on to the agents by demanding impossible targets despite Brexit concerns and a slow market.

    Agents get fed up of being micromanaged and sometimes bullied because it starts affecting their business. They quit usually within 6 months or less and are replaced with other dupes who are conned into the belief of self-employment so Yopa doesn't have to pay insurance stamps, Tax and other fees normally due for employers.

    It's not rocket science. The best agents who tried the online hybrids have been and gone many moons ago so only less experienced agents are green enough to fall for promised riches. A vicious circle in ever decreasing circles and a tactic that will end in tears next year.

  • Paul Singleton

    If there’s one commentator that is qualified to talk about failure it’s Russell Quirk! YOPA are just another dreadful company, just like PurpleBricks that are lowering the standards of what we do by pretending they do the same job, which they don’t!

  • Charlie Lamdin

    “We don’t disclose sensitive information such as whether or not we actually deliver what our clients pay us for.”

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    • 22 August 2019 19:45 PM

    Must admit I am veering away from these online offerings that charge so much upfront with no guarantee of a sale.
    To the point that I am becoming less resentful about paying EA commission for a sale.
    After all
    No sale No fee!!!
    Thinking about it that is not a bad deal!!
    So perhaps I will be less resentful to paying relevant commission than I used to be!!
    If I'm going this way I recckon probably other potential vendors will behave similarly!
    I predict that consumers will reject these online offerings.
    Only online offerings that provide a very simple no-frills listing service will prosper but they are few and far between.
    So on balance the prediction of the death of the High St EA is somewhat premature!
    So really good news for EA.
    You will still be used by most vendors.

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