Nationwide to shut up shop in estate agent branches

I worked in a branch 20 years ago with an Abbey National agency and back then it attracted (in pretty good numbers) lots of erm, how do I describe them? – old fashioned banking customers.

Im pretty sure that this is the banking version of the village post office counter in a village store and has gone the same way.

PeeBee is right though, the press won’t pick up on this one in the way they did if 265 small branches were going.

Propertymatch – im with Wooden top – you are either mad, misguided or both, utter nonsense mate.

And Wooden top, now to you, last I looked the ‘Corporates’ in the UK comprised Countrywide, Connells ( I think might be owned by Skipton still, im sure someone will confirm this) and LSL as being the only three now all the banks and insurers have come out of it – im not sure how Savills and Knight Frank are classed but I think like LSL are a PLC?

That means out of the top 50 biggest companies in the UK all but 5 are privately owned / independent? Doesn’t that mean the UK estate agency market is predominantly independent and at last the corporates have gone / consolidated into a minority

• 07 September 2010 11:05 AM

Nothing at all to do with the Agencies - online banking and general reduction in receipts mean that there isn't enough coming in to justify keeping satellites open. One does wonder, however, if it would have made more business sense to close their own branches and keep the in-Agency offices? No premises costs; no wage bills - just a small commission to the Agency. But of course that would have made headlines - so better not, then...

• 07 September 2010 10:07 AM

Come on then, pal - you obviously have all the answers so enlighten us all, please, with this gift of yours. What Government strategies do you suggest? I, for one, am DYING to see your response...

• 07 September 2010 09:59 AM

"The problem is stagnation in the housing market, caused by ineffectual marketing by agents".

What nonsense!

The problem with corporate type estate agencies is they can't make money when it's tough. There have been many before Nationwide going back to the early 1990's, all came in when there was easy pickings and all got out when the times got tough. Just goes to show how good long standing independents are without big finacial backers to keep them afloat. I wonder how long it will be before some of the bigger independents start to fall, as many are propped up by creditors?

• 07 September 2010 09:37 AM

The wholesale destruction of these sort of facilities in High Streets across the UK is not what people need and also augers badly for the organisations concerned.

The problem is stagnation in the housing market, caused by ineffectual marketing by agents.

If the government put the necessary strategies in place to resolve the market imbalances, none of these things would need to happen.

• 07 September 2010 08:25 AM