'We're targeting branch managers and senior negs', says easyProperty director

The new managing director of easyProperty claims the hybrid agency will be targeting branch managers and senior negotiators who think they could do better but can't afford to set up their own business.

Speaking to business publication Insider, David Brierley says the agency is looking to take a 'local first' approach to expansion, building brand awareness and market share in 'reasonable sized' towns and cities.

Brierley's business Evolve - which provides services including photography, floor plans, viewings and EPCs - acquired easyProperty in the summer with the endorsement of easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou.

The easyProperty director says the agency is looking to "grow organically along motorway corridors or A-route corridors, and other sort of geographical corridors, such as valleys up in the Lake District or valleys in South Wales, where there's a synergy between adjoining towns."

"If we can establish the brand in the major towns and cities around the country, then it will be a question of joining up the dots later on, as we as grow organically along these routes," he tells the business publication.

Following its relaunch in September 2017, easyProperty has provided partner agents with the opportunity to purchase exclusive territories to operate in.

"We see ourselves as providing our partners with a 'business in a box'," says Brierley.

"Everything that they need to set up and run an estate agency we provide, including website, CRM system, marketing, social media platforms and so on."

easyProperty has been beset by turbulence since its original launch in September 2014.

Last year, the agency's former owners eProp Services reported a loss of £2.6 million, while in March this year - before the firm was sold - agents were urged to charge sellers whatever they liked as easyProperty abandoned its fee structure.

Upon acquiring easyProperty in July, Brierley said the agency would be focusing on Wales and South Yorkshire as these areas already have a 'strong easyProperty presence'.

"Once we have covered these areas in orange, we will set our sights on expanding the brand in other untapped areas," he said.

The agency does appear to have a presence in Wales, with 114 listings on its website. In Yorkshire, meanwhile, there are currently 15 properties listed for sale, three of which are marked Sold Subject to Contract.

Searches of the easyProperty website in London, Manchester and Birmingham, however, throw up combined results of just three properties for sale, two of which are marked Sold Subject to Contract.

The agency's Rightmove page lists 93 properties for sale.