Countrywide buys two North West agencies

COUNTRYWIDE Residential Lettings has acquired six lettings businesses, including ones which operate in Manchester and Warrington.

The residential lettings agency has bought the business that trades under the M1 and LS1 brands in Manchester and Leeds respectively.

The company has a combined portfolio of more than 1,000 city centre apartments in the two cities, and the acquisition will help CRL to develop a stronger presence in both cities.

CRL has also strengthened its presence in the east of London market, including in the areas surrounding the Olympic Park, through the purchase of local lettings business, Alan Harvey Property Services.

And it has made a number of further purchases, including Warrington-based lettings business, iSite.

Law firm DWF acted for CRL on the six latest acquisitions. CRL, part of Countrywide, the UK’s largest lettings and estate agency group, has bought nine letting agencies and opened 60 new branches since the start of the year.

John Hards, co-managing director, CRL, said: “I am delighted to welcome the latest additions to Countrywide Residential Lettings and look forward to working with the teams that have also joined us.

“We have a number of acquisitions planned for the rest of the year and we will be looking for more opportunities to increase our footprint. We welcome opportunities to add more businesses to the team and urge business owners to contact us.”

Lester Wilson, partner in DWF’s corporate team, said: “CRL is a company that we have supported over the last few years, and we are delighted that we have once again been able to help the business with its ambitious growth plans during the first half of this year.”