A major shake-up appears to be going on at Romans and Leaders, with the departure of high-profile sales chief Vince Courtney.
Courtney was managing director of sales at Romans for 21 years.
His Linked In profile was yesterday evening unchanged, but the official statement said that he had “recently decided to step away from the business”.
Romans sales managing director Antony Gibson is to take over Courtney’s responsibilities.
Courtney’s departure appears to be part of a major shake-up.
Romans merged with Leaders in 2016 to become Leaders Romans Group. The business is backed by venture capitalist Bowmark Capital, who analysts suggest will want to see their money back before too long, possibly by a stock market flotation.
Adrian Gill, CEO of the merged company since last year, joined from LSL where he held the post of executive director in estate agency, but resigned after just 16 months.
Also leaving the merged Romans and Leaders businesses is Matt Derry, commercial director at Leaders. Like Courtney, he has been a long-time server in his role, completing almost 23 years.
Leaders managing director Allison Thompson, appointed only two years ago, has relinquished her role.
The statement said: “Since joining Leaders in 1992, Allison Thompson has successfully managed branches, areas and regions, culminating in her appointment as managing director in 2016.
“As managing director, Allison led Leaders through a period of great change following the merger.
“However, as the group grows and develops, Allison recognises that her skills as a motivator and leader are better placed working closer with the operating teams.
“Therefore, Allison is stepping aside from her role as Leaders managing director to take a more operational role as managing director of Leaders South.”
Michael Cook, head of lettings at Romans, takes on the newly created role of lettings director for the group. His successor at Romans is Richard O’Neill.
Kim Lidbury, formerly of Countrywide, has also been announced as the new director of Romans property management, while Joanne Jackson has been promoted to lettings operation director at Romans.
In relation to the departures of Courtney and Derry, the announcement yesterday evening said that it was saying goodbye to “two old friends”.
Possibly no more complicated than a good regional firm being top heavy on head office overhead and not being able to compete on fees with more nimble smaller competitors.
Corporate and regional independents with high overheads are the most vulnerable sadly.
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Danger venture capitalists at work…who joined the party late in the property boom! Looks like they are keeping some experienced hands on board, let their results now speak, as that is what will determine the success of their exit strategy. Bet words were exchanged between the incumbent directors and the new vision which is always difficult when you sell your baby for hard cash….tick tock
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One of the pleasures of my job is getting to see so many of the best agencies around the world and Romans are right at the top in that elite group.
invariably call things right but I can say that Vince is the real deal, and always sickening to us mere muggles a great guy too. I’m sure both parties will go onto greater things still and I wish them both well
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Romans have lost one of the best in Vince Courtney . If he left them they should have broke the bank to keep him, if they pushed him out then they best have a great masterplan
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Losing seasoned and experienced achievers is always a problem. In this case more so as those coming in are doing so from organisations that are less than impressive!!!!
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The circle of life – happens in all walks. Change can be necessary, it certainly provides opportunity for others and whilst it can be unsettling for some it often turns out to be the best thing for all concerned.
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