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Graham Awards

TODAY'S OTHER NEWS

Hybrid agency brand seeks to spread nationwide with franchisees

A hybrid estate and lettings agency operating currently in Manchester, Liverpool and others parts of the north of England has told Estate Agent Today it is now establishing a franchise system and is seeking applicants from across the country.

Wignalls Estate Agency was set up in 2015 by Paul and Sarah Wignall and describes itself as “award-winning estate agents, offering clients a cost-effective way to sell or rent their property whilst still providing excellent customer service and a personal touch.”

The agency is based at Leyland in Lancashire and its website says it currently covers that town, Chorley, Buckshaw Village, Manchester, Liverpool, Blackpool and Preston.

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Its team currently includes a senior sales negotiator, a sales negotiator, a valuation manager and an independent mortgage and insurance advisor. As of last evening, the agency listed 99 properties for sale or to let on Rightmove.

Now it is looking for franchisees across the country wanting to adopt a similar business model. 

A franchise would cost £25,000 and on website Franchisesupermarket the agency says it anticipates new recruits would break even in six months. 

The agency claims to convert 75 per cent of valuation appointments into instructions, and franchisees would be offered a week’s training course at Wignall’s Lancashire headquarters, local training in their area, an initial marketing and materials package, and ongoing marketing and operational support.

 

 

Franchisees would also receive an agency software package, access to referral fees from a conveyancing panel, comprehensive social media training, and “income from independent mortgage and insurance company.”

You can see the agency’s website and contact details here.

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    How can they claim to cover these areas when they have precisely no property’s any where near Manchester or Liverpool and only one in Blackpool, it appears they have a portfolio of Park homes of which the majority are located rather randomly in Penrith but they don’t seem to be bragging about this! This is a local agent which in the main services Leland and Chorley and is obviously pretending to be something it is not, some journalistic fact checking please.

  • Kristjan Byfield

    To be fair, they don't have that many park homes- more concerning to me would be:
    1. They don't list any properties on their own site but default viewers to the Rightmove listing page (eeek)
    2. £25k is not a cheap franchise! So for that, you expect either a nationally established brand (nope) or the setting out of a comprehensive nationwide marketing campaign to establish this.
    3. Failing that an utterly amazing tech stack (whether bespoke or 'assembled')- they could have this but have skimmed over the details in this press release.
    Wish any venture luck but this is a tough sell against the multitude of brands out there with much more brand recognition and market penetration.

  • Colin Bain

    £25k you must be having a laugh >>

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    Their website is a complete joke that looks like a high school student has built for a high school project.. and is also not compliant with TPO rules. Their website shows they achieve 98.2% of asking price yet their franchise claims 75% of asking price (advertising standards)? Award winning yet they're the only agent within a 3 mile radius of their office that's on the British property awards website? As a user has said above they have zero presence outside of their immediate area and there also seems to be bigger and more successful agents in their area..

    25k.....! You'd have to be mad to sign up to this.

  • Velgram Quaid

    Hilarious.

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    No privacy policy or T & C's

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