Foxtons shareholders to pass verdict on expansion plans

Foxtons shareholders will today give their verdict on the company’s plans to ‘go national’, revealed at the start of the weekend.

On Friday the company’s share price slipped slightly during the day but after the close of trading the company let it be known it would expand outside its traditional London base.

Foxtons is to create ‘virtual branches’ in as many as 15 UK cities outside London including Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds, Manchester, York, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

There will also be an expansion into commuter areas around London; this follows a successful pilot project in Berkshire earlier this year. 

This overall expansion plan coincides precisely with proposals suggested earlier last week by one of Foxtons’ investors - Catalist Partners - which had accused the agency of failing to capitalise on its high profile reputation.

Prior to the leak of details of its programme, Foxtons told its shareholders in a formal statement that Its London sales commission pipeline had continued to grow since mid-April and was some 65 per cent ahead of 2020 and 17 per cent up on New Year 2021.

“For over 40 years we have operated through the ups and downs of the sales market cycle and emerge from the unprecedented challenges of 2020 a more efficient and capable business” shareholders were told by chief executive Nic Budden. 

On Friday last week the Foxtons share price closed at 59.6p; in its glory days of 2014 the share price hit around 400p.

In case you missed it, Estate Agent Today reported on the leak on Friday evening here.