TESCOS LAUNCH ESTATE AGENCY

05 March 2010

 Prior to the abortive launch in 2007 of a purely ‘on-line’ model, Chris Wood of PDQ had been selected as the sole consultant to Tesco and RBS in their joint venture into the property market for an 8 month period developing a much more traditional style estate agency service for the two International companies who were collaborating in the project.

Following extensive work including customer focus group testing and artwork creation, the ‘traditional style’ model was set to be launched only to be shelved at the last minute in preference for a totally online service – a service that we advised would likely fall foul of Estate agency legislation. At the same time that the launch went pear shaped, the property market took a nose dive and Tesco clearly decided to cut their losses.

With the market picking up again, Tesco’s are clearly more confident in the business model we developed and, in conjunction with Spicer-Haart, who bought the Tesco online model when it folded are now launching a test pilot in Bristol.

Our view as an estate agent remains unchanged from when we were fist engaged by Tesco. A good quality competitor is good for any market. The service Tesco’s are preparing to offer will appeal to a wide section of the market but it will not be everyone’s cup of tea. Good, professional and qualified agents who know the local market and have a wealth of experience to offer customers have nothing to fear. If anything, it should help drive out the cowboys from the business at long last, as the only way they have been able to compete is with ultra low fees and restrictive/ unfair contracts. There are still butchers and bakers on the high street of almost every town; often two or more; proving that a good quality, local service or product will always be valued by customers who know the difference between cheap and value for money.

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