Industry veteran Michael Stoop (pictured above, left) has taken over as chairman of franchising giant Belvoir following the retirement of the company’s co-founder Mike Goddard (above, right).
Stoop has been at the centre of the property industry’s franchising sector since 1986 when he first joined Winkworth as a franchisee and later became its Managing Director.
In 1992 he jumped ship to Xperience Franchising which operated brands CJ Hole, Ellis and Co, Parkers and Whitegates, and which was later bought by Belvoir.
Stoop became Group Managing Director of rival Martin & Co in 2014 while also joining The Property Ombudsman as its Vice Chairman. In March last year he joined the board of Belvoir as a non-exec.
“Belvoir was founded by Mike in 1995 with his wife Stephanie, and I have had the pleasure of working alongside Mike since 2005,” says Dorian Gonsalves (left), CEO of Belvoir.
“Through his entrepreneurial spirit and his passion for franchising, Belvoir has become the largest property franchise group in the UK.
“I would like to express my personal and the Board’s sincere gratitude for all that Mike has done and achieved as founder, CEO and Chairman over the past 24 years.
“We welcome as Chairman, Michael Stoop, who has over 40 years’ experience of the property franchise sector and has already made a significant contribution since joining the Board in March 2018.”
The promotion of Stoop coincided with the release of Belvoir’s latest trading update, which reveals a ‘robust’ performance from the business, which it claims has outperformed the market in both lettings, sales and financial services.
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