Tepilo unaffected by Trinity Mirror's swoop on Northern & Shell

Tepilo has told Estate Agent Today that it will be unaffected by the sale of Northern & Shell Ventures’ publishing activities to the rival Trinity Mirror organisation.

Northern & Shell Ventures has been a long-standing shareholder in the Tepilo business. Last August it declared that it owned 25 to 50 per cent of the operation and in December - when Sarah Beeny relinquished her directorship - it was believed that Northern & Shell had taken effective ownership of the business.

However, over the weekend it was announced that rival publishing operation Trinity Mirror was buying the publishing concerns of the Northern & Shell parent company for £126.7m.

This led to some speculation on social media that Tepilo may be affected by the acquisition, especially as one of the agency’s directors is Digby Rancombe, who is also finance director of Northern & Shell.

In big picture terms, the move means that the Mirror’s stable of titles now includes the Daily Express, Daily Star and OK!, making it a significant rivals to Rupert Murdoch’s News UK and to DMG Media, the owner of the Daily Mail and Metro.

In agency terms, it may mean a small under-the-radar reduction in publicity for Tepilo, which was often featured in property stories in the Daily Express in particular. 

Tepilo - which began life as a ‘for sale by owner’ service and then five years ago switched to the online model - offers three options to vendors. 

The ‘essential’ option costs £645 including VAT for the typical online basic service along with what the agency calls “a Sarah Beeny For Sale board”; the ‘classic’ option, which it says it used by 83 per cent of its customers, has the basics and board plus professional photography and floor plans; finally the ‘premium’ includes premium listings on Rightmove, Zoopla and PrimeLocation and costs £1,295. 

EPCs and virtual tours attract additional costs.