 | |
| Company type | Limited company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Real estate |
| Founded | 1936 (Luton) |
| Headquarters | Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire |
Key people | Richard Twigg (Interim Chief Executive) |
| Parent | Skipton Building Society |
| Website | connellsgroup |
Connells Limited, trading as Connells Group, is a British estate agency and property services company headquartered in Leighton Buzzard, and a subsidiary of Skipton Building Society.
In 1936 the first Connells estate agency branch was opened in Luton, Bedfordshire. [1]
Connells acquired Sequence estate agency in 2003', [2] increasing its estate agency network to around 500 branches. In the same year, Connells acquired estate agency Sharman Quinney. [3]
In 2008 Connells Group sold its remaining 18% stake in Rightmove plc. [4]
In 2010 Skipton Building Society acquired nearly 100% of Connells Group. In the same year, Connells Group acquired a major shareholding in Vibrant Energy Matters. [5]
In 2011 Connells Group acquired a shareholding in the conveyancing and remortgaging panel management services provider LMS Group. [6] In the same year, Connells acquired independent estate agency Burchell Edwards including conveyancing firm Be Legal. [7]
In 2012 Connells acquired a 25% strategic stake in residential property fund manager, Hearthstone Investments plc. [8]
In 2014 Connells Group acquired the Peter Alan chain, which operates in south Wales, from the Principality Building Society for £16.4m. [9]
In 2015 Connells group acquired the Liverpool business of Farrell Heyworth an independent Estate Agent, based in the North West of England. [10]
In 2015 Connells Group acquired Gascoigne Halman estate agency, based in the North West of England. [11]
In 2015 Connells Group acquired Gilbert & Thomas, based in Rutland. [12]
In 2016 Connells Group acquired Rook Matthews Sayer estate agency, based in Newcastle upon Tyne. [13]
In 2016 Connells Group acquired Paul Dubberley, based in the West Midlands. [14]
In 2016 Connells Group acquired Touchstone Residential, operating in Kent, Buckinghamshire and the west country. [15]
In 2021, the group purchased Countrywide, with branches across the UK. [16]
Connells Estate Agents have faced criticism on a number occasions of hard selling and pressuring clients to use the groups in-house mortgage services using tactics such as not allowing viewings or to place offers on properties before signing up to the in-house service. [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22]
In February 2016 Connells appeared on a list of 92 companies which had in at least one instance been found to have failed to pay the minimum wage to employees. [23] In April 2018 Connells Survey and Valuation business was named in the top 10 of UK companies with the highest gender pay gap. [24]
In law, conveyancing is the transfer of legal title of real property from one person to another, or the granting of an encumbrance such as a mortgage or a lien. A typical conveyancing transaction has two major phases: the exchange of contracts and completion.
An estate agent is a person or business that arranges the selling, renting, or managing of properties and other buildings. An agent that specialises in renting is often called a letting or management agent. Estate agents are mainly engaged in the marketing of property available for sale, and a solicitor or licensed conveyancer is used to prepare the legal documents. In Scotland, however, many solicitors also act as estate agents, a practice that is rare in England and Wales.
Countrywide is one of the UK's largest integrated property services group including residential property surveying, a collaboration of estate agents, and corporate services. It employs circa 8,500 personnel nationwide, working across 650+ estate agency or lettings offices operating under 50+ brands. Countrywide is a wholly owned subsidiary of Connells Group
Rightmove plc is a British company which runs rightmove.co.uk, the UK's largest online real estate property portal. Rightmove is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
The Skipton Building Society is a building society established in 1853 in Skipton, North Yorkshire, where it remains headquartered. It is the UK's 4th largest building society and has over 1 million members and 100 branches. At December 2022, the Society had total assets of more than £33 billion. Its most important subsidiary is the Connells estate agency which operates nationally out of over 500 branches.
Spicerhaart Group Ltd is an English estate agency, lettings agency and financial services company with its Head Office based in Colchester, Essex, and operating throughout the United Kingdom. It is the largest independent estate agency network in the UK.
Savills plc is a British real estate services company based in London. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Propertymark is a membership organisation for estate agents. It is based in and covers the UK. It is the UK's leading professional body for estate agents. Its members practice across all aspects of property in the UK, including residential and commercial sales and letting, property management, business transfer, auctioneering and land.
HomeServices of America is the United States' largest residential real estate services company, based on closed transactions. The company provides real estate brokerage services, mortgage loan origination, franchising, title insurance/escrow and closing services, home warranties, property insurance, casualty insurance, and relocation services.
Foxtons Group plc is a British estate agency company dealing with both lettings and sales. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Globrix was a UK real estate search engine that was launched in January 2008. It was launched as a joint venture with News International, publishers of The Sunday Times, The Sun, The Times, The News of the World and Thelondonpaper.
LSL Property Services operates the Your Move and Reeds Rains estate agencies as well as e.surv Chartered Surveyors. It forms the second-largest estate agent chain in the United Kingdom.
Houseful is a British residential property software, data, and insight company based in London, England, owned by Silver Lake Partners.
The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme is an ombudsman in the United Kingdom. It has been providing consumers and property agents with an alternative dispute resolution service since 1990.
PrimeLocation.com is a UK property portal owned by ZPG Ltd that lists properties in the UK and abroad. It was founded in 2001 by a group of 200 UK estate agents. It accepts property listings only from estate agents, letting agents and property developers. Its main rival is Rightmove.
John D Wood & Co. is a UK Estate agent, established in London in 1872.
Hamptons is an estate agent that has a UK network of more than 93 branches and an international affiliate partner network of over 7,000 offices. Hamptons' parent company, Countrywide, was acquired by The Connells Group in April 2021.
Purplebricks is a British online estate agent which operates in the UK. Founded in 2012 by Michael Bruce, Kenny Bruce and David Shepherd, it is backed by investors that include venture capital firm DN Capital as well as Neil Woodford, Paul Pindar, and Errol Damelin.
OpenRent is an online letting agent and property service provider, founded in 2012. It is a UK-based startup company focused on technological solutions to property rentals. It claims to be the largest letting agent in the UK based on number of properties, boasting over 5 million users as of 2022.
OnTheMarket.com is a United Kingdom property portal similar to Rightmove and Zoopla. In October 2023, it was announced that the firm would be acquired by CoStar Group for £99 million. On December 12, the Washington, D.C.-based property data company reported having completed the purchase of OnTheMarket plc.
