The expansion continues…major sales and lettings deal for Linley & Simpson

A well-known Yorkshire estate agency has expanded into another of its prime locations after striking a major acquisition deal.

Linley & Simpson has clinched a 640-home letting portfolio and the residential sales business of a Yorkshire counterpart in its latest major purchase.

The company, one of the biggest in the region, has bought the sales and lettings business of Leeds-based Hardisty and Co, a family-run agency whose property roots date back more than 30 years.  

Its operations spanned the North and North West of Leeds; Bradford; the Wharfe Valley, including the market town of Otley; and Aireborough, including its suburbs of Guiseley, Rawdon and Yeadon. 

The deal adds more than 640 properties to Linley & Simpson’s rental portfolio, which ‘will all transfer seamlessly into its existing offices in the neighbouring Leeds suburbs of Pudsey and Horsforth’. Members of the Hardisty and Co team will also join them. 

In Horsforth, the Hardisty brand will be retained, with its current branch on New Road Side remaining open and becoming dedicated exclusively to sales. It will also incorporate its new homes specialism. 

Andrew Hardisty, former director of Hardisty and Co, will continue to manage this office alongside his wife Tracey. Meanwhile, the other family director, Ian Hardisty, and his wife, Gemma, who was Head of HR, are retiring from the business to pursue other business interests. 

Nick Simpson, CEO of Linley & Simpson, which is headquartered in Leeds and has been increasingly acquisitive in recent years, said: “We are thrilled to acquire, and join forces with, another market-leading agency of the calibre of Hardisty and Co. 

“It is a highly complementary business that we have known and admired for many years, and represents an ideal fit for us.” 

He added: “The thriving area where they operate is one of our strongest heartlands. It’s where we started our journey as a letting agent 25 years ago, and where our headquarters is now based. 

“We look forward to pooling more than five decades of local knowledge and insight to ensure we offer the highest quality customer service to buyers and sellers, tenants and landlords.” 

He added: “We remain committed to growing at pace and scale, and this latest acquisition is another signal of our continuing confidence in the Yorkshire property market. Other acquisition prospects are in the pipeline.” 

Originally founded as Waite & Co in 1992, Andrew Hardisty bought the business in 2001 and it was rebranded to Hardisty and Co in 2015, where he continued to grow it along with his two brothers to employ a team of almost 40. 

“We have been counterparts of Linley & Simpson since the 1990s and we have long held a shared respect for each other,” Andrew Hardisty said. 

“When we started to explore the possibility of selling our business, our priority was to ensure its future would be in safe and trusted hands.” 

He added: “Linley & Simpson has that pedigree. It shares our passion for property, and for employing a team comprising only the very best people. Myself, and the other former Hardisty and Co colleagues joining Linley & Simpson, look forward to contributing to its future success.”