Boomin wants founder agents on boards leading the portal

Upcoming portal Boomin has written to its founder agents inviting one of them to take up a seat on the main board; three other founder agents will be on a key business development board with a focus on keeping customers on side.

The successful candidate for the main board will be selected by a vote from other founder members plus Boomin’s employees. This will be a paid position with a fee of £25,000.

The process started yesterday, when Boomin wrote a letter to its founder agents - they have until the end of this month to nominate for the main board member.

So far around 50 firms have been named by Boomin as founder agencies, but the portal insists other agencies can still join under ‘founder member’ status until the end of this month.

After December 31, when the nominations process ends, the 12 founding members with the largest number of nominations will progress to a run-off. 

This is thought the first time any portal has had the involvement of an individual member agent at such a senior level; the old Agents’ Mutual nominally involved member agents but relatively quickly ditched its mutual status and now operates in a traditional way.

The letter sent to founders yesterday also reveals more of the Boomin structure, and another opportunity for agents to have places on a key part of the organisation.

In addition to the main board there will be a Business Development Board “to ensure that we stay focused on our ambitions for agents and customers.”

This will consist of Boomin chief executive Michale Bruce, chief technical officer David Shepherd, and head of product Tom Kirk. Chief operating officer Andrew Stewart and chief marketing officer Phil Lloyd will be the remaining members. 

And the letter adds: “As with the Main Board we will look to bring-in outside agent expertise, with the remaining three seats on the Business Development Board reserved for founder agents. We will be undertaking a search and selection process to identify and appoint three of the leading talents across the Founder Agency community to provide external insights, expertise and strong representation.”

Perhaps with an eye to the hostility that exists between some portals and their agents, the letter ends: “In summary, Boomin is committed to working with agents, for agents, to deliver a better future for everyone. Please engage and participate with us and help us to select the Board, which will work tirelessly on your behalf.”

Below is the letter to founder members in its entirety.

Boomin wants to deliver innovative, partnership solutions for agents that are great for them and great for their customers and Boomin. We want to have a lasting level of clarity, transparency, integrity and trust with agents who will always be a key part of everything we do at Boomin.

One of the many ways that will contribute to achieving this lasting objective is to have an agent sit on the main Board of Directors of Boomin who is chosen by Founder Agents. This ensures that agents’ best interests are always being pursued. We’re also creating a Business Development Board comprising of a number of agents and experts in different fields to review and formulate the published ambitions of the company.

Founder Agents choosing who should be elected to the main Board is unprecedented in the property portal space and we encourage everyone who works for a Founder Agent to participate by making a nomination. This is a paid position, with the elected Board Member having direct influence over the strategy, direction and execution of the company and will become the voice of agents up and down the country.

This entire process is open to current Founder Agents and any further Founder Agents who join before the public launch of the business.

Today we announce the two-stage process for nominations and set out below the main details.

Main Board appointment process

Stage 1: Nominations

• Nominations will open from 12.00pm on Tuesday 1 December and close at 5.00pm 31st December 2020;
• Anyone who is an owner, partner, director or employee of a Founder Agent can make one nomination;
• They can nominate themselves or someone in their organisation;
• The 12 agents with the highest number of votes, subject to their approval, will be put forward as the final chosen nominees.

Stage 2: Final selection

• The twelve nominees will be put to the executive of each Founder Agent whereupon they can cast one vote on behalf of their business for one of the nominees;
• For franchise groups each Franchisor brand will get a single vote;
• The voting will open at 9am on Tuesday 5 January 2021 and close at 5pm on Monday 18th January 2021;
• The nominee with the most votes will be appointed subject to their agreement and the sanction of the current Board
• They can choose to be a statutory Director or a Board Observer and will receive a fee of £25,000 plus expenses

The successful applicant will sit on the Board for 18 months and thereafter there will be a new vote by Founder Agents.

Business Development Board - Ambition never comes to an end

In addition to the Main Board, there will be a Business Development Board, whose central remit will be to ensure that we stay focused on our ambitions for agents and customers. In addition to myself, David Shepherd (Founder and CTO) and Tom Kirk (Head of Product) will sit on the Board to ensure that our technology remains optimised to achieve the best experiences for both agents and customers, with Andrew Stewart (COO) accountable for maximising agent earnings potential. The final Boomin member will be Phil Lloyd, who as CMO bares ultimate responsibility for marketing success and efficiency.

As with the Main Board we will look to bring-in outside agent expertise, with the remaining three seats on the Business Development Board reserved for Founder agents. We will be undertaking a search and selection process to identify and appoint three of the leading talents across the Founder Agency community to provide external insights, expertise and strong representation.

In summary, Boomin is committed to working with agents, for agents, to deliver a better future for everyone. Please engage and participate with us and help us to select the Board, which will work tirelessly on your behalf.

Yours sincerely, Michael Bruce, Executive Chairman & Founder