A conversation with David Newnes, Co-Founder of National Home Move, and Managing Director Matthew McCreath discussing the benefits of being a Your Move Franchise Partner.

12 June 2024 3875 Views

Tell us a little bit about National Home Move.

We are a network of more than 60 Your Move and Reeds Rains Estate Agency franchise branches across England. We started with 39 branches in 2019 and grew to over 60 last year. We offer residential sales, auction, land, new homes, lettings, financial services and conveyancing.

National Home Move are the largest  group in LSL Estate Agency Franchising network. What made you go down the franchising route rather than outright acquisitions?

David Newnes: What attracted me about estate agency franchising was the opportunity to come back into Your Move, which was a brand that I knew and loved from many years before. And the fact that LSL provides the back-up to that big brand, I thought was also really important.

Matthew McCreath: It was quite a big decision for me, because I had worked for Your Move for nearly 20 years as a director in the network, and I wanted to try something else. I looked at all of the franchise opportunities that were out there, and I opted to become a Your Move franchise primarily because I understood the brand and was also familiar with their franchise arrangements; and I knew of all the support that other franchisees were already getting, and that all appealed to me.

What are the key advantages of being a Your Move Franchise Partner

David Newnes: There are three things for me:  Brand; Systems; Marketing

Your Move is a is a household brand with one of the most visited estate agency websites in the UK and that delivers hundreds of leads every day into our business.

In terms of systems the benefit of having LSL is that they're out in the marketplace with a much bigger team than I've got really focused on helping make sure we've got the very best systems. We just wouldn't have the time or the resources to go and find out about that for ourselves. There's a really good team behind the scenes.

And then the third thing for me is the marketing. Your Move constantly promote the brand – for example through social media and in the future in a whole range of new ways that I think we don't even quite understand yet that will make sure we keep ahead of the pack.

Matthew McCreath: So at heart I’m an estate agent, well versed in the day to day running of things - I don't really need any support for that. What I need the support for - and continue to - is the bigger picture - the website, the marketing department, the compliance, all of the things that keep you on the right side of the law when it comes to lettings legislation and things that you just might not know as a day to day estate agent. You get all that support from Your Move as the franchisor.What I also like is that you get the best of both worlds. I now run my own business and make my own decisions, and I can make them today and change something today rather than it being a longer process, but I also like the safety blanket and the support that you get with being a franchisee.

    

 

 

 

 

Does being a franchise with Your Move give you access to additional revenue streams?

David Newnes: We do sales and lettings and alongside those we sell a number of other products, that are there to help customers. Conveyancing is one of them - clearly people need a lawyer when they're moving home so we help them find a really good conveyancer. People need a mortgage so we help them with that – we pass them to somebody that we know is a really good financial consultant.

The advantage of this kind of franchise model that we've got is that we are not just reliant on house sales, which a lot of estate agents are.

Is there a benefit to being connected to other business owners and Franchise Partners?

David Newnes: It’s great being part of a bigger entity because we've got interaction with other franchisees. There's some sharing of best practices.

We've got a Franchisee Council that meets 3 or 4 times a year to talk about brand, systems and marketing and what are the things that we could be doing that are better than we're doing now to try and improve our performance. And we share best practice on how people are managing their business, how they're recruiting and training their staff, a whole range of things.

If you were to give any advice to someone thinking about becoming a franchise what would that be?

David Newnes: If I was talking to somebody who was thinking about taking on a Your Move franchise, I think I'd say to them, go and have a good look in the marketplace and see what else there is out there and then come back and have a good look at Your Move and understand why their proposition is so good.

Matthew McCreath: I'm 5 years in. There's lots of investment from Your Move. There's lots of time that's given to you without being overbearing because it's your business, but when you need support, it's there and so I would recommend.

My advice would be to do it. I have no regrets of that.

Both David and Matthew have been working as a Your Move Franchise Partner for over five years and are great ambassadors.

 

If this sounds interesting and you’d like to have a conversation about becoming a Your Move Franchise Partner contact Lee Carratt on 07557 920421 or visit your-movefranchising.co.uk for more information.

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