It has just been announced that the founder and CEO of PurpleBricks, the international online estate agency, has quit the company.
Who is the founder?
The founder of the business was Michael Bruce. The headquarters of the property management company is based in Solihull.
Why did he quit?
Bruce announced his resignation after the stock exchange listed company experienced a difficult few years.
Since the end of 2017, the share price of the firm has dropped dramatically. In 2017, PurpleBricks average share price was just over £5. In May 2019, this had fallen to just under £1.26. In summary, the company had been experienced a colossal 65% year on year decline.
What is PurpleBricks?
The online estate agency does not have any high street offices. It charges clients a flat fee that is the payable upfront in order to be able to market a house.
These fees are dependent on the location of the property. Outside of London, the average fee was £899, whilst in greater London the price was approximately £1,399.
What is next for the estate agency?
In recent years, PurpleBricks had gone into rapid expansion overseas. This includes setting up operations in Australia, Canada and the US. However, after the difficulties it has been having since 2017, the company has announced that it will be closing its operations in Australia shortly.
Experts have suggested that the sustainability of online estate agencies may be doubtful, and that we may increasingly see companies like PurpleBricks starting to merge with high street agency chains in order to survive.
