Foxtons Group plc is a British
estate agency
An estate agent is a person or business that arranges the selling, renting, or management of properties and other buildings. An agent that specialises in renting is often called a letting or management agent. Estate agents are mainly engaged ...
company dealing with both lettings and sales. It is listed on the
London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...
.
History
Foxtons was founded by
Jon Hunt
Jonathan Michael Hunt (born June 1953), is a British billionaire property entrepreneur. He is best known as the founder of UK estate agency Foxtons, and is more recently known as the founder of Pavilion, the business members club chain. He has ...
in 1981 in
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road M ...
,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, as a two-person estate agency.
2001 saw the launch of promotionally branded
Mini
The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...
s, bearing the Foxtons logo.
Foxtons was acquired by
private equity
In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...
firm
BC Partners
BC Partners is a British international investment firm with over $40 billion of assets under management across private equity, credit and real estate in Europe and North America. Its global headquarters are in London. The firm invests across all ...
in 2007 for £390m.
In December 2009, private equity firm BC Partners lost control of Foxtons, less than three years after buying it, after creditors reorganised the real estate broker's debt.
On 27 August 2013, Foxtons unveiled its flotation on the
London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...
to raise £55m from private investors.
On 1 July 2014, Michael Brown stepped down as CEO, citing personal reasons for his decision. Previous COO, Nic Budden took on the role of CEO.
In May 2022 Nic Budden stepped down as CEO and Peter Rollings took over as Interim CEO; it was announced that Guy Gittins would take up the post on a permanent basis in September 2022
Controversies
In March 2006, the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
ran an undercover report and revealed many questionable actions taken by Foxtons employees such as faking signatures and purposefully overvaluing properties.
In May 2013, BBC Watchdog reported that Foxtons imposes tenancy agreements which demand in the small print that tenants must use utilities supplier Spark Energy Ltd. The BBC stated Foxtons are paid commission by Spark Energy Ltd.
Operations
Foxtons has over 50 offices. It is a member of
The Property Ombudsman
The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme is an ombudsman in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast ...
, The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) (Licensed Member), The Association of Residential Letting
Agents (ARLA) (Licensed Member),
and the National Approved Letting Scheme. Foxtons is also a founding member of the Safe Agent Fully Endorsed client money protection scheme (SAFE) as well as
Tenancy Deposit Scheme.
References
External links
{{Authority control
Property companies based in London
Real estate companies established in 1981
Property services companies of the United Kingdom
Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange