York's Hunters estate agent reports "ground-breaking year" after opening in 32 new locations

Hunters, the York-based estate agents, has reported its most successful year to date, having opened number of new branches across the UK; floating on the London Stock Exchange and launching a dedicated Residential Development & Investment arm.

Throughout 2015, Hunters expanded in 32 new locations including Oxford, Southampton, London, Sunderland, the Wirral, Norfolk and Kent.

The expansion included 21 existing independent agents from single branches to larger networks such as Norfolk’s Kudos Residential, which joined the company and rebranded its seven office network to Hunters in June, and Black & White Estates’ four branch network in Kentwhich rebranded in October.

Having opened its first branch 24 years ago in York, Hunters now has 170 branches nationwide and is planning further expansion over the next several years.

Andrew Bushell, sales director of Hunters Franchising, said: “2015 was a ground-breaking year for Hunters; not only did we expand into new territories with a record number of branch openings, we also received unprecedented levels of interest across the country from both new start-up operations and conversions of independent estate agencies looking to join the Hunters network. As such we have a strong pipeline in place for 2016 and are already about to open our doors in locations in the North West and central London during quarter one.”

In addition to Hunters’ growth through conversion and start-ups, the company also grew through the acquisition of Country Properties, a franchised operation with presences in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire, adding a further 23 branches to the network.

Glynis Frew, managing director of Hunters Property Plc, added: “I believe a major reason for our success is our focus on people and not just property - our agents are trained to put the customer at the heart of our services. We also have a great internal team who are passionate about our business and who are experts in all the key areas that are crucial to running a successful estate agency franchise. We are very excited about the year ahead.”

Pernilla Tweddle, marketing director for Hunters, also commented: “2015 saw several milestones that took our brand into many new locations and onto new, exciting platforms. This included the launch of our brand promise ‘Here to get you there’ and our first national TV commercial which illustrates how moving house is so much more than just a transaction.”