Capitalising on a growing recovery in the property market, is how CPBigwood senior partner Rory Daly sums up 2013 – a year of significant growth for the business across all fronts.
The company followed up the 2012 purchase of Lloyds Property Management in Leicestershire with the acquisition of DMA Chartered Surveyors in Hampshire during 2013.
The addition of the 3,000 properties under management in Hampshire and Dorset took CPBigwood’s property management portfolio to over 20,000 units spread over 30 counties.
DMA will be rebranded CPBigwood and Mr Daly said that with the firm’s London office also having doubled in size, this now gave the business a significant foothold in the south.
“It is all part of our masterplan to spread out from our Midlands roots and develop a truly national business,” he said.
“We are still on the acquisition trail, but also plan to grow the business organically by adding our other service lines – residential property sales and lettings and commecial agency to our offices in Leicestershire, Hampshire and London.
“We have significant expertise in the Midlands, and now we want to spread this to our newer offices and build a truly national brand,” he said.
But while the market may be looking for a substantial national acquisition in 2014, the next move is likely to be closer to home.
“We are keen to establish a new residential sales and lettings office in Solihull in this coming year.
“It is the logical progression from our success in this area in Stratford-upon-Avon, Henley-in-Arden and Birmingham,” he pointed out.
In a year when major property brands and well known individuals have all seen their lights dim and, in some cases, flicker out of existence, CPBigwood has continued to grow not only its turnover but also its head count.
Since 2012 CPBigwood’s staff numbers have risen from 135 to 185 with the recruitment of over 30 new staff – plus the existing workforce from the DMA acquisition.
The firm has committed to growing a lot of its own talent in-house, supporting the apprenticeship scheme, and they have converted quite a number of these starter roles into permanent positions.
And similarly, where senior staff are required, or should be recognised, CPBigwood has preferred to promote from within, rather than recruit from the plethora of “talent” currently available in the marketplace.
Not that Rory Daly rules out bringing in senior staff from outside, “as there is a place in CPBigwood for quality professionals with a proven track record who can bring significant fee income with them,” he said.
But perhaps the most visible signs of CPBigwood’s continuing success in 2013 came in Rory Daly’s personal area of interest – the auction business.
When the firm merged the substantial auction businesses of Bond Wolfe and CPBigwood in 2007, they created a force that has continued to grow.
In 2013, the December event held at Aston Villa football ground totaled £8,105,700 of property sold, with an 84 per cent success rate and 100 per cent in the case of local authority lots.
It means the cumulative figure for 2013 came in at £51,607,200, with 604 lots offered and an overall success rate of 77 per cent.
The 2012 comparison was just under £47 million on 570 lots.
Mr Daly said: “The aim in 2014 is to grow this figure again, building on our success as an established top ten auction house nationally, and one of the largest auction houses outside London.
“We are also one of the top ten property management companies in the UK.
“And with our acquisition radar on as well, we hope to grow these and other areas of the business in 2014 to build a major national presence, allowing us to increase our offer to large national and multi-national companies, as well as our individual clients in areas such as residential sales and lettings.
“We believe the signs are good for another good year in what is clearly a strengthening market and CPBigwood is well positioned to capitalise.
“Watch this space!”