Chestertons quits Zoopla to return to Rightmove

Chestertons has left Zoopla to return to Rightmove.

This morning, Chestertons chief executive Robert Bartlett confirmed to EYE: “We remain strongly committed to OnTheMarket.”

Chestertons put their listings back up on to Rightmove yesterday afternoon, while their listings on Zoopla will be taken down today.

Bartlett said he thought that the departure of Chestertons, with 32 branches across London, would be a blow for Zoopla but said that it had been on amicable terms.

Chestertons was the largest of the 250 or so agents to quit Rightmove under OTM’s one other portal rule. Most of the departures – around 4,000 – were from Zoopla.

Bartlett said this morning that the decision to leave Zoopla was based on the fact that although it delivered leads, they did not translate into enough business.

“Also,” he said, “we had more and more of our clients telling us that they expected to see us on Rightmove and you have to listen to your clients.”

He said that Chestertons get very good quality leads from OTM and added: “Ultimately, we hope that OTM will build itself up into the situation whereby Chestertons need to be on no other portal at all.”

City analyst William Packer, of Exane BNP Paribas, said: “An upmarket estate agent with a strong brand, has returned to the Rightmove platform within months of leaving.”

Of the departure of Chestertons from  Zoopla to fulfill their one other portal obligations, he added: “We see this as a negative, underpinning Rightmove’s relative must-have status, and raising further questions on Zoopla’s longer term pricing power, and the assumed rebound of membership in consensus.

“It is also a positive for OTM, with Agents Mutual successfully retaining the membership of Chestertons, a high profile founding member. We estimate that Agents Mutual is continuing to grow its membership like Rightmove and Zoopla – ie, all three players are growing membership currently.”

In Packer’s note to investors, he said that he reiterated outperform on Rightmove and underperform on Zoopla.

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43 Comments

  1. EHenderson

    Jolly good everyone. Another one in the eye for Zoopla and another boon for Rightmove. Mission accomplished 😉

    I like Mr Bartlett’s comment about not advertising anywhere other than OTM – I wonder how long term that aspiration is! Assume the negotiation with Rightmove didn’t go too well then!

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  2. Andrew Goldthorpe

    Is it time to start calling OTM ‘LocationPrime’?

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  3. PeeBee

    …eagerly awaiting cries of “IT’S A CARTEL!!!” from you-know-who…

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    1. Andrew Goldthorpe

      Not sure if its a cartel but it was a premeditated (and successful) attempt to have a second bite at the Primelocation cherry, whilst retaining the ability to sell the business if sufficient members vote for it. They originally told NFoPP they had no interest in gaining their endorsement (for what that is worth) which, knowing the founders and their history with Springett, struck me as further confirmation that they have never been interested in having the hoi-polloi on board. A more honest name would, in my view, be LocationPrime.com.

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      1. Trevor Mealham

        A cartel is an agreement between competitors to fix prices, share markets, rig bids or limit output at the expense of the interests of customers.
        https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cartel-offence-prosecution-guidance

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        1. PeeBee

          “A cartel is an agreement between competitors to… share markets…”

          Does that include those who choose to come off portals to share (I would suggest for ‘share’ you think ‘save’) costs with other , Mr Mealham?

          By the way – I said on another story that I was going to rummage4 some old stuff I remembered.

          I have.  It’s amazing what was said in the past can bite you firmly on the @$$ when you least expect it – but most deserve it…

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  4. dave_d

    I hope everyone who decided to go along with this pathetic crusade OTM is happy with what has happened.. the very thing you’ve been trying to remove is now becoming stronger than ever… well done! Their new website is on the way too, can’t wait for that call..

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    1. GPL

      sorry dave-d?…… Zoopla is mortally wounded which demonstrated exactly what a real estate agency supported portal…. OnTheMarket.com could do!

      Any growth of Rightmove is down to the gawping bystanders waiting for a sign from the portal g*ds that now is the right time to join and grow OnTheMarket.com

      What’s laughable is standing by doing nothing acheived nothing…. the arrival and support of OnTheMarket.com flicked a huge portal switch… which has seen the Zoopla bulb dim greatly and so far the Rightmove bulb burn brightly….. but tell me this…. who caused that to happen?!….. and why should it stop with Zoopla?!

      For the life of me I cannot see why Rightmove should control property portal advertising and the pricing if it, products promoted on it…. when many UK Estate Agents chose OnTheMarket.com instead of Zoopla it demonstrated that agents actually have the power of choosing their provider….. the elephant in the portal room is Rightmove as they radiate the view to their members that there is no other choice!…. clearly there is, ask Zoopla!

       

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      1. dave_d

        I’m sorry but all it demonstrates to me is that there are a lot of gullible business owners out there.

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        1. NewsBoy

          Oh Dave!  Think about it. OTM will be the way forward. Lets get rid of Hoopla first and then wrongmove. We can then all settle down to a nice sensible portal market at prices we can all afford.

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          1. dave_d

            I’m not against it, I would love for it to happen – unfortunately the process of getting there affects the pockets of the business owners and that is why there are so many fence sitters..

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      2. HarryN

        How is a business worth £1bn and 10% more valuable since the formation of OTM ‘mortally wounded’?!

        Your stupidity will be your undoing.

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        1. Property Pundit

          Constructive as ever HarryN.

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    2. Andrew Goldthorpe

      It never was a crusade for the benefit of all property businesses. It is a commercial business, wrapped up as a mutual, with an exit strategy, otherwise why don’t they ditch the ability to cash out the business? What charitable crusade emphasises, at recruitment meetings, that if members want to vote to sell it they can?

      When the time and price is right, I predict that OTM and its founders will find plausible reasons to ‘reluctantly make changes to the structure of the business’ or words to that effect.

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    3. RealAgent

      No of course dave-d it would have been far better to have continued paying Zoopla and have two portals holding everyone over a barrel!! Seeing OTM prosper has been probably the single biggest unified event I have witnessed in estate agency over 30 years in fact the only question in my mind has been why hasn’t EVERY independent estate agent supported it!

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    4. I want to believe

      With Zoopla mortally wounded and RM in the cross hairs the property industry is well on it’s way to finding it’s happy.

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  5. GPL

    He said that Chestertons get very good quality leads from OTM and added: “Ultimately, we hope that OTM will build itself up into the situation whereby Chestertons need to be on no other portal at all.”

     

    I have said it already here and elsewhere…. it is up to OnTheMarket.com to make itself the goto portal for UK Estate Agency. Zoopla are dead in the portal waters as a No2 property portal as that is no longer their objective….. property!

    The only game worth playing for is No1 Portal…. and any real UK Estate Agent should be supporting their industry by supporting OnTheMarket.com

    Kiss the real UK Estate Agency Industry Goodbye if you fail to support OnTheMarket.com

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  6. Paul House

    An interesting development and one which Zoopla are no doubt hoping is a one off and is not going to be replicated by many other OTM agents who originally decided to stick with Zoopla.

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  7. albere billachip

    dave_d –  you seem to miss the point entirely of what agents adverting with OTM are trying to achieve which is within 5 yrs not to be beholden to external property portal and bring to end the need for RM and Z for the serious agents – as Bartlett says – “Ultimately, we hope that OTM will build itself up into the situation whereby Chestertons need to be on no other portal at all.”

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    1. dave_d

      albere – I’m not missing anything. I completely understand what is “trying” to be achieved and if I was running a charity I would be on board as well, but I’m not running a charity, I’m running a business.

      So when someone comes to me and says we want you to drop one of your portals which currently gives you leads/valuations and revenue for a website that hasn’t even been made in the off chance that one day it will be as big as Rightmove and should save you money down the line, my business head tells me that’s a pretty stupid decision to make.

      “When an elephant sits down in the room you move out of the way” – beating Rightmove is just not going to happen.

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      1. NewsBoy

        Oh yes it is. Hoopla’s days are very limited and with a little luck, some solidarity amongst agents and a following wind we can defeat wrongmove in a year or 4

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  8. albere billachip

    if RM no longer had any property to advertise I think you’d find that it would be beaten….the OTM snowball will continue to gather speed.

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  9. RealAgent

    With regard to the main headline I’m not sure this reversal was a major surprise; if anything it was more of a surprise they went down the Zoopla option in the first place. Although OTM was no doubt launched with a view to be the dominant portal over time, I find it interesting that certainly for my company at least, OTM and Rightmove work quite well in our armoury, both aiming at slightly different market places, with the net affect that we are able to assure vendors of the breadth of coverage.

    Not I hasten to add that I wouldn’t like to be paying for just one, but perhaps I’m not as desperate thats tomorrow as I once was.

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  10. smile please

    Hmmmm Maybe worth calling Z and look to reneg our fees!

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    1. RealAgent

      Well you could threaten to tell their investors that the 100 offices they gleefully announced had returned has been reduced by some 30 odd….

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  11. Robert May

    I have to say  there is a salutary lesson for all service suppliers, look after your customers. Loyalty can only be stretched so far.

    This is a very stark reflection  of the high handed and confident way Zoopla  have let a golden commercial  opportunity pass them by. I think the shareholders ought to be asking a single, short and uncomplicated,  question; How is this even possible with all the tech and media advantages available to Zoopla?

    Let’s hope Chestertons request a full data purge of comparable and historic data to prevent it being scrapped and used by their competitors even after they have left

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  12. PeeBee

    OPEN QUESTION TO TREVOR MEALHAM

    You seem to have a huge problem with the whole portal malarkey.

    May I please draw your attention to the following quote, written on the bog door down the other pub on 3/1/13:

    “Agents made them (the portals) equally agents working together can BREAK them. Or greed will break themselves.”

    It has your signature on it – so I would like to ask you what you have such a different opinion today?

    You can’t flush this U-turn down the U-bend.

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  13. Jonnie

    Right, the pro / anti wwww.onthemarket.co.uk fisticuffs will go on like normal so I’ll stay out of that  / leave it to the usual lot but in fairness to Z many of us did a big old whoopy do when the got 100 new branches so now they have lost 30 we probably can’t take the Mick too much but the next city update will be fun to see………..how will Z spin this one, let’s see.

    Jonnie

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  14. JAM01

    It shows that RM is the only national portal to be on. Chestertons stated their vendors expect them to be on there. RM is the 80 % of Paretos 80/20 rule. The rest, including OTM are chasing the residual 20%.

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  15. Chrispy

    Same old story, same old comments. The only fact worth mentioning is that Chestertons have gone back. Why are some of you trying to spin that into something it isn’t?

     

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  16. PeeBee

    More quotes taken from various bog doors ‘penned’ by our Mr Mealham – the comments that follow are simply examples of what some may consider valid questions in response to the quotes:

    (LinkedIn – July 11-12, 2011)

    Big portals are a must, but go on them with other agents, 1/2 a bill paid is half your revenue saved. Find agents on portals your not on and get them to list for you. At the same time if you are on portals they are not, well its not rocket science.”  Advocating ways to save on portal charges in an organised manner – remind me what’s that allegedly called?

    “I’d love to see portals in a less important position than the guys and ladies who graft hard to get the listings on to pay the big portals their fees.”  Do I detect a bit of malice towards the portals there?

    “Afterall, clients go to agents they don’t go to portals.” But… but… I thought the portals were so important that it was a crime not to list on THEM ALL?

    “…if 2-3-4 agents work together and one is on a big portal then network listings via the agent on that portal, thus 2-3 dont pay the big bill. By networking agents can still have the same listings on the big portals, just at a shared 1/3 – 1/4 cost …portals dont like it but they dont give agents exclusivity so why should agents.”  So… where’s the element of ‘competition’ that Agency is meant to encourage?

    (LinkedIn July 5, 2013

    There is more to selling houses than rightmove or zippy alone. Good agency is taught – not bought.”  So what’s the problem with not advertising on both (or any) of them, then?

    (The Other Pub, September 17, 2008)

    “INEA is for the agents, we only allow Independents in… The NAEA also caters for corporate agents, which WE DO NOT.”  Erm… Ratner moment?

    (Same Other Pub, January 18, 2013)

    ” If NFOPP agents had listed on PL 2 weeks ahead of RM or Zoopla and told Joe Buyer and Joe Tenant that PL released listings 2 weeks ahead, then Public UK search would have favoured PL… If agents list elsewhere and leave RM and Z 10-14 days before listing there. The big guns would be in trouble.”  Hmmm… you weren’t advocating the ‘exclusivity’ route, were you?

    “Theres a dozen ways to upset the status quo.”

    The ironic thing with that last statement is that ONLY ONE has taken off – and ‘various individuals’ have gone all #bunnyboiler over it.

    The internet is littered with comments like the above.

    Like writing dirty ditties on a bog door – once etched upon it is there forever for anyone to read.  You simply can’t flush them away or scrub them off.

    But like a naughty puppy you can have your nose rubbed in them.

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    1. Robert May

      You were up late Peebee! It is fairly obvious Trevor’s  posts now reflect  that  he is excluded from  a group he obviously put quite a lot of  effort into influencing  prior to AM.

      I can to some extent understand where he is coming from, but going head to head with AM which he was once supportive of isn’t going to win him any friends on here (but will at EAT) The real problem I can see is that his now announced connection and influence over the industry regulators actually compromises their impartiality. If there is a cartel rather than just consensus of opinion the ability to do anything about it is now compromised by connection and agenda.

      I have to say I am now  feeling somewhat constrained to act in the best interests of agency because as soon as I raise a subject that is in every agent’s best interest to address it will be painted as collusion.

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      1. PeeBee

        Robert – I would suggest you have no worry in that respect, as what is best for the Industry is, by definition, best for their clients.

        And until they amend/retract The Estate Agents Act 1979 – that is what we are governed by.

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        1. Robert May

          The trouble is  let’s say I have the inside track on some quite appalling misdemeanour by a given service supplier such that everyone throws up their hands in horror and runs screaming from the room, am forming a cartel with everyone I alert to the problem?

          It is no different if an agent comes to the conclusion, ‘their service is a bit hollow let’s leave (as Chestertons have done)’ It is all too easy to claim a mass desertion of a supplier on the cartel actions of a group when in fact it is  everyone  coincidentally and independently getting  fed up with the same issues problems and concerns.

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  17. GPL

    PeeBee… Star Witness for the prosecution… Ladies & Gentlemen of the Jury I present to you Evidence Production marked No 1…. The Virtual Bog Door with the initials TM …..

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  18. seenitall

    We have been only advertising with one portal for the last few years.  Why pay for two?   We have no issues in letting properties so why change? why pay more.   Good on you if you want to pay for 2 or 3.         But from a selfish and business view We dont need to so we save costs.

     

    Would clarify that we dont sell just let.

     

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    1. MF

      Exact same arrangement here….

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  19. the message

    great work Peebee. TM is definitely not the authority on cartels etc. I did some work last night, just to be able to throw some comments in. Doesnt matter what TM or anyone thinks, only people that matter are the CMA and if they dont think OTM is doing anything illegal then its a none issue. If they do launch an investigation, there is a problem, but to date it doesnt look like they care.

     

     

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    1. Robert May

      Is there a cartel formed by CMA and Trevor? Is he unduly influencing or pressuring the various bodies he  is consulted by in order to bring down OTM

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      1. PeeBee

        And more’s to the point – who can we report them to?

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  20. PeeBee

    Hmmm… Mr Mealham appears to have left the building.

    I’m sure he will be found hogging his comfy barstool down the other pub and giggling like a pixie (credit: Robert May) thinking about the tuppeny firework he threw into our snug and ran away like a brat out of Hell.

    Pity he didn’t stick around to see that not only had it fizzled out with only minimal help from our wazzing on it – but also he had the rest of the box firmly stuffed where the sun won’t get to it and a slow-burn fuse is lit and inching its way to the payload!

    I’m gonna be there for the Big Bang – I would recommend anyone watching to stand well back and wear something ‘water’proof, as this one could splatter quite a distance!

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    1. PeeBee

      Ahhh – nice to see that you’re not too far away, Sir…

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  21. BBP

    Imagine, what would happen if the search giant Google just changes its algorithm to blackout all these portals to strengthen its own empire?

    That days are not too far along! We, the all UK agents should become United and fight against these portals and insist Google to achieve that.

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