Foxtons ‘has its mojo back’

Foxtons has got its mojo back under its new chief executive Guy Gittins, senior executives at the agency brand have proclaimed.

Gittins replaced Nic Budden at the helm of the London agent in September 2022.

Two senior agents have praised his performance in recent days.

Speaking at the Propertymark One conference this week, Fran Giltinan, managing director of customer experience for Foxtons, described Gittins as an energiser bunny and said the agent’s market share is coming back

Meanwhile, former managing director and now non-executive director of Foxtons Peter Rollings has echoed this sentiment.

Speaking on the latest OnTheMarket OnTheRecord podcast, Rollings said Foxtons has become a different place since Gittins took the helm.

Rollings said: “It had lost its mojo in such a huge way and. Bluntly, it wa incredibly poorly managed, I think. Not wantonly, I don't think, just through ignorance and it didn't have anybody on the board who had the slightest idea about estate state agency.

“They lost the ability to know and understand what makes a salesperson tick. They were ticking every box they could possibly find in order to fit in with what goes on these days at the expense of profit.

He said a good salesperson has to be able to speak and write and not be afraid to pick up the phone, adding: “Maybe that's too old fashioned these days, but it did lead to the business having catastrophic figures and it had entirely come from mismanagement and the misunderstanding of a sales culture and what and how makes salespeople work hard. That's what you need.

“You don't want to come in and exist, you want to come in and shoot the lights out and be the best people they possibly can and move up and make a lot of money and drive nice cars and have nice things. If you want to have them save the world, they probably shouldn't be in an estate agent.”

Rollings also expressed concern about the overuse of images on the podcast.

He said: “I've always worried, that multitudes of photographs showing every angle of every room makes people think, looking at 50 photographs and seeing three and saying 'ooh, I don't like that, I won't bother'.

“So, you know, information is key and it's crucial. But I think too much information kills deals. The start of deals. You can't get people through the front door cause they're made up their mind that they don't like the green bathroom. That's a worry.”