High Street agency veteran speaks up for hybrid business model

The new chief executive of The Property Franchise Group says he anticipates his company’s hybrid arm - EweMove - will go “from strength to strength”.

Gareth Samples took over as CEO of TPFG in April after three decades in the estate agency industry, much of it at LSL Property Services where he was managing director of Your Move brand - the largest single brand High Street estate agency in the UK at the time. 

In this role he was responsible for Your Move’s franchise operation as well as having overall control of financial services and lettings and the strategy of the brand.

Now in the first major statement in his new TPFG role he has spoken of his hopes for EweMove.

“I’ve been an admirer of the way EweMove has developed since it launched in 2013. As someone with experience in traditional agency and the property technology sector, I feel very confident about the brand’s future” he says in a statement.

“They have merged excellent PropTech, exceptional personalised service and distinctive marketing which has helped them lead the way in the hybrid agency market” he adds.

“I believe that franchising is the model best suited for the future, and our brands will be at the front of the charge. One of the strengths of TPFG is we have brands which complement each other, and the hybrid offering from EweMove is one I’m sure will go from strength to strength.

Last month EweMove’s managing director, Nick Neill, launched a campaign to entice traditional agents who may have used the lockdown period to reassess their way of working to consider joining his franchise operation. He took up the theme in a contribution to Estate Agent Today at the weekend, which you can read here.

Now Neill says: “Our franchisees showed during lockdown that our model is durable and can perform during the toughest of periods. We share Gareth’s optimism for EweMove because we believe it’s a great offering for agents with the ambition, drive and ability to go it alone but still have the backing, expertise and support of a team of experts working behind the scenes on their behalf.”