We Must Give Our Young People A Chance
A friend recently asked me to give his son some advice about a career in an estate agency. I did my best to help him but in the process of doing so I realised that it would be almost impossible for him to do what I did when I started. I took my first estate…
Read MoreBig agency sweeps up student firm despite renting reform threat
Lomond has acquired Nottingham-based firm Uni2 Rent, founded by Ed Henderson, proving renting reforms aren’t scaring off business buyers. Rapidly expanding estate agency group Lomond has made another acquisition with the purchase of a leading student accommodation provider. Uni2 Rent, based in Nottingham, has been bought by Lomond just two weeks after it acquired Kent agency Oakwood…
Read MoreThe End Of The Family Owned Business?
A great deal has been written about how changes to CGT in the last budget will prevent farmers from handing their farm down to their sons and daughter. However this change to tax laws will also prevent people from handing down other businesses to their families like estate agencies and this has hardly been covered…
Read MoreThe Impact Of N.I. On Letting Agents
There have been a lot of articles about the impact of the recent National Insurance increases on pubs, shops and the big supermarkets. However, no-one yet has a written about the impact on estate agents and letting agents and the impact will be quite serious. Let’s look at the impact on a small letting agent…
Read MoreA Truly Extraordinary Week for Mergers and Acquisitions
This has been a truly extraordinary week for mergers and acquisitions activity in the lettings sector. On Monday the private equity investor ICG spent £450 million buying Lomond Group. Just 28 hours later they bought the largest remaining independently owned letting agency in London, Kinleigh Folkard and Hayward. KFH is an extraordinary business. I undertook…
Read MoreWhen Will The Value Of A Sales Business Recover?
The week after the Brexit referendum vote I lost every single business sale in my pipeline. It was heartbreaking, months and months of work all came to absolutely nothing. However after 32 years of selling businesses I have come to realise that these roller coaster ups and downs are all part of the job. The…
Read MoreWhy You Must Take Compliance Seriously
Almost every week we read about another letting agent who has had to pay an enormous fine for a compliance mistake but if my experience is anything to go by a great many letting agents are still making elementary compliance mistakes. So what are the most common problems that I am seeing? The first is…
Read MoreRecruitment Mistakes To Become Illegal
I will never forget my first day in estate agency 44 years ago. I had been recruited by the branch manager and I had never met the senior partner before I started my job. I was very young and very keen so I arrived at my office half an hour before it opened in order…
Read MoreThe Right To Switch Off
The Right To Switch Off
Read MoreWhat Will Labour Do To CGT?
There have been a number of articles in the press recently that suggest that Labour might align CGT rates with income tax rates. This would have a catastrophic impact on landlords who wish to dispose of an investment property or business owners who wish to retire. At the moment a higher rate tax payer who…
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