 | |
| Company type | Limited company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Real estate |
| Founded | 1936 (Luton) |
| Headquarters | Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire |
Key people | Sarah Whitney (Non Executive Chair) Richard Twigg (Interim Chief Executive) |
| Parent | Skipton Building Society |
| Website | connellsgroup |
Connells Limited, trading as Connells Group, is a British estate agency and property services company headquartered in Leighton Buzzard, and a subsidiary of Skipton Building Society.
In 1936 the first Connells estate agency branch was opened in Luton, Bedfordshire.[1]
Connells acquired Sequence estate agency in 2003',[2] increasing its estate agency network to around 500 branches. In the same year, Connells acquired estate agency Sharman Quinney.[3]
In 2008 Connells Group sold its remaining 18% stake in Rightmove plc.[4]
In 2010 Skipton Building Society acquired nearly 100% of Connells Group. In the same year, Connells Group acquired a major shareholding in Vibrant Energy Matters.[5]
In 2011 Connells Group acquired a shareholding in the conveyancing and remortgaging panel management services provider LMS Group.[6] In the same year, Connells acquired independent estate agency Burchell Edwards including conveyancing firm Be Legal.[7]
In 2012 Connells acquired a 25% strategic stake in residential property fund manager, Hearthstone Investments plc.[8]
In 2014 Connells Group acquired the Peter Alan chain, which operates in south Wales, from the Principality Building Society for £16.4m.[9]
In 2015 Connells group acquired the Liverpool business of Farrell Heyworth an independent Estate Agent, based in the North West of England.[10]
In 2015 Connells Group acquired Gascoigne Halman estate agency, based in the North West of England.[11]
In 2015 Connells Group acquired Gilbert & Thomas, based in Rutland.[12]
In 2016 Connells Group acquired Rook Matthews Sayer estate agency, based in Newcastle upon Tyne.[13]
In 2016 Connells Group acquired Paul Dubberley, based in the West Midlands.[14]
In 2016 Connells Group acquired Touchstone Residential, operating in Kent, Buckinghamshire and the west country.[15]
In 2021, the group purchased Countrywide, with branches across the UK.[16]
Connells Estate Agents have faced criticism on a number occasions of hard selling and pressuring clients to use the groups in-house mortgage services using tactics such as not allowing viewings or to place offers on properties before signing up to the in-house service.[17][18][19][20][21][22]
In February 2016 Connells appeared on a list of 92 companies which had in at least one instance been found to have failed to pay the minimum wage to employees.[23] In April 2018 Connells Survey and Valuation business was named in the top 10 of UK companies with the highest gender pay gap.[24]
