Countrywide CEO steps down in wake of profits warning

● Boardroom shake-up announced after Alison Platt leaves post after three years

The chief executive of Countrywide, the UK’S largest estate agency, has parted company with the business days after a shock profits warning.

Alison Platt said the “time is now right” to step down from the role after three years running the business which is behind brands including Slater Hogg & Howison, the biggest estate and letting agent in Scotland,

The move comes after it was reported earlier this week that the group’s board was discussing Platt’s future following the profits warning last week which saw shares in the firm crash to a record low.

The hunt for a new chief executive is under way and chairman Peter Long has stepped in to replace Platt as executive chairman until a successor is appointed. Commercial development boss Paul Creffield has been named group operations director and will take charge of the underwill performing sales and lettings arm.

In a trading update last Thursday Countrywide, also behind names including Bridgfords and Hamptons, said a “disappointing” end to 2017 would leave annual earnings slumping to £65 million against £83.5m.

Platt said yesterday: “Since joining in 2014 I have worked hard, within a difficult market, to structure a fragmented business into one set for success. I believe those actions will serve Countrywide well in the future. However, the time is now right for me to step aside. I look forward to seeing the business build back and return to growth.”

Platt will receive a pay-off, with details to come “as soon as practicable”, Countrywide said.

Long said the group’s woes were in its sales and lettings area, admitting this is where the firm had “lost focus”.

He added: “A key priority will be to implement changes that will enable this area to start delivering once again.”

As executive chairman, Long see his pay double from £180,000 to £360,000 a year. Platt joined the group from outside the property market, having worked as a senior executive at private health giant Bupa and airline British Airways.

The group’s warning last week revealed sales and letting income is expected to be around £205m, down 17 per cent year on year, and in London it is forecast to be 10 per cent down at £155m. The housing market has also experienced a marked slowdown since the Brexit vote, and Countrywide said last year that the EU referendum had a “sustained impact on sentiment”, with fewer buyers and sellers coming to the market.

Anthony Codling, an analyst at Jefferies, said: “Countrywide, with hindsight, tried to modernise too quickly and in its desire to stay relevant in a fast-changing market, probably took the business backwards not forward.”

But he added: “We should not be overly critical of management teams trying new ways of creating value”.

Shares closed up 0.4p at 104.4p.