More agencies expand - and one giving Golden Handshakes to new staff

Manchester estate agency Ascend Properties has appointed a former agency chief to spearhead sales in the city. 

Ged McPartlin, the new sales director, previously spent 10 years as the driving force behind Curtis and Bains - an agency which was sold to Countrywide in 2014. 

Ascend has been trading for 18 months of trading and have appointed McPartlin to push ahead with achieving a £1m turnover target by the end of 2016. Ascend has opened a flagship office on Designate and 1,000 managed rental properties, as well as winning 11 awards across both sales and letting divisions.

Meanwhile JLL has opened its latest residential branch in Stratford, east London. 

The office, which will offer both a sales and lettings services, will be headed up by Bernard Cully, who has over 10 year’s estate agency experience, and Charlotte Russell, who has been in the lettings industry for 12 years.

“Demand for Stratford has grown year on year; take Unex Tower, for example, where we recently achieved £714 per square foot on a unit purchased off plan in 2012 for £430 per square foot. This 40 per cent increase is not uncommon and reflects the area’s great potential” explains Cully.

Still in London, estate agency Portico claims the war for top talent is so competitive that it is introducing a £1,000 golden handshake to all successful candidates filling current job vacancies.

Portico already employs 120 staff, but the company is looking to hire a further 20 by the end of the year, and in addition to the £1,000 each employee gets a free annual all-expenses paid trip overseas, free company lunches and - depending on grade - a Range Rover Evoque or A-class Mercedes company car.

These are just the latest expansion plans from agents; earlier this week, and at the end of last week, we carried stories on other expansions and acquisitions.