Major East Midlands estate agency sells lettings business

Lomond, the national network of residential lettings and sales agencies, has bought part of one of the East Midlands’ largest estate agents.

The firm has acquired the Nottingham and Derby lettings portfolio of sector stablemate Royston & Lund.

The 600 properties have been integrated within its John Shepherd brand, which has offices in Birmingham, Solihull, Redditch, Cannock and Sutton Coldfield.

The deal takes John Shepherd’s rental portfolio across Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire past the 1,000 mark – with other Midlands deals in the pipeline.

Royston & Lund, based at West Bridgford in Nottingham, will now focus exclusively on residential sales.

John Shepherd has retained the established Royston & Lund lettings team and will service its new clients from a new base in Nottingham.

The agency first launched a presence in the East Midlands last year after Lomond swooped to acquire a brace of multi-regional UK rental portfolios.

As Lomond closes in on 50 acquisitions since its launch less than three years ago, its CEO Ed Phillips said this deal signalled the start of a new phase of growth.

“We are thrilled to be making giant strides in further extending our footprint across the East Midlands,” he said.

“Growing our presence here, as well as in neighbouring West Midlands, continues to be an important strategic ambition for us as we step up our acquisitive journey over the next six months.

“This will not only see our brands consolidate their market-leading position in existing core UK regions, but also Lomond investing and launching in brand new territories.”

John Shepherd’s chief executive, Richard Crathorne, said the agency’s rental portfolio spanning the whole of the Midlands had now grown to 4,700 units following acquisition of the lettings book of Royston & Lund.

He added: “After last summer’s multi-regional acquisitions, the East Midlands has been an area where we have witnessed significant organic growth, thanks to the high number of investor landlords it attracts.

“The acquisition of Royston & Lund’s high-quality rental collection, as well as its established lettings team, equips us with a strong platform on which to accelerate our growth, both in size and in reach, across this in-demand region.”