Purplebricks moves to new fully-employed operating model

Solihull-based online estate agency Purplebricks has announced a move to a fully-employed model for its field sales agents.

The company says the transition will mean it can “scale up quickly to meet consumer demand”. It also announced that it has a pool of 100 agents who are ready to join it as opportunities arise.

A statement from Purplebricks said: “The company’s newly employed sales team will enjoy a highly incentivised package with the ability to work flexibly and remotely, in keeping with the Purplebricks entrepreneurial ethos and changes to ways of working that have come about because of the pandemic. Agents will also benefit from the rights that come with employee status as well as having access to many new opportunities for career development and growth.”

However, the firm said the move will cost it £3-4m, with ongoing administration costs £1m higher than before.

Purplebricks CEO, Vic Darvey, said: “I am proud to be announcing plans to make our sales team permanent employees. The pandemic highlighted the challenges of being self-employed for many people – which is why we created the £2.2m fund to support the agency field during recent challenging times. As normality returns, we believe that moving to a fully employed sales model will benefit and support our people and make Purplebricks fit for the future.

“Not only will this enable us to better protect and incentivise our agents, it will also allow us to scale up quickly to meet consumer demand, and continue to deliver a high quality, locally based service for our customers. It will also ensure that we can continue to drive a more consistent, high-performance culture and experience for all of our customers, helping us deliver a next generation estate agency service to buyers and sellers alike.

“The board strongly believes this move will increase market share and enhance performance in the coming years.”