Trio of agency branches snapped up by financial entrepreneur

Three of Martin & Co’s most prominent branches in the north of England are under new ownership.

The Saltaire, Keighley, and Thackley offices of the agency have been taken on by Gary Horgan, whose background is dominated by high-profile customer-facing roles at Bradford-based financial services giant Provident Financial.

Under previous owner Angela Newark, the Keighley office was rebranded as Martin & Co, having been a branch of Property Franchise Group stablemate Whitegates; meanwhile the Thackley office was launched in 2019 after Newark acquired independent agency Red Box Residential.

After 12 years of growing her branches to be among the largest in the Bradford area, Newark is now retiring.

New owner Horgan says: “I’ve always been obsessed with ensuring my teams provide an exceptional customer experience and service and I’d always felt this approach would be a perfect fit in the property sector.

“My background working in key customer service and experience, and operations roles, and the exceptionally talented teams we have in our Saltaire, Keighley, and Thackley offices, will ensure that landlords, sellers, buyers and tenants in those areas receive a best-in-class service.”

Ellie Hall, managing director of Martin & Co, adds: “We are delighted to welcome Gary on board and have no doubt the business will continue to prosper. 

“We are keen to support Gary in continuing to grow and develop his business and have a dedicated acquisitions programme across the network, assisting all our offices in terms of acquiring other businesses.”