Belvoir-owned estate agency chain Newton Fallowell has bought a rival firm, Lincolnshire and Humber based 19-branch business Lovelles, for £2 million.
Lovelles is a well-known name in the region and the family-owned business goes back three generations to its establishment in 1932.
It has grown after adopting a franchised model in 2006 and is now the largest estate agency within Lincolnshire.
Based in Grimsby the Lovelles network reaches north to Hull, east to Skegness and south to Lincoln, where it joins up with Newton Fallowell.
Lovelles will become part of the Newton Fallowell Group, which will then operate three brands; Newton Fallowell, Goodchilds and Lovelles. The combined three networks now includes 55 offices across the East and West Midlands and the Humber.
Sales and lettings
So far this year Lovelles has sold £1,425 properties and manages a rental portfolio of 1,600.
Its network includes 11 sales-only branches, two lettings-only and six offering both. Of these 12 are franchised and six owned directly although three of these are due to convert to franchises by April next year.
During the year to 31 March 2019 Lovelles made an operating profit of £500,000 and had net assets of £100,000.
The company was also named the region’s Agency of the Year at last month’s Negotiator Awards.
“Having seen how the Newton Fallowell network has flourished as part of the Belvoir Group, I knew that Belvoir would be the right home for the Lovelles network,” says Jonathan Lovelle, MD of Lovelles (left).
“Belvoir shares my vision of franchising as being the optimum business model for our industry and I know that its management team is committed to supporting the growth aspirations of all franchisees.”
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