Award-winning estate agent is forced to close

ONE of Plymouth’s best known estate agents has closed after 27 years of trading, blaming online competition, reduced fees and a lack of houses on the market.

Maitlands Estate Agents Ltd was an award-winning company which has employed more than 300 people during nearly three decades in business.

But growing challenges from what it described as “the changing world of our business” meant the firm was not generating enough income and so directors made the “awful” decision to cease trading.

It means the immediate closure of three offices in Plympton, Ivybridge and Saltash. A Plymouth city centre office closed in 2019. A separate business, Maitlands Residential Lettings, is unaffected by any changes and will continue operating.

Andy Blacklock, managing director at Maitlands Estate Agents, said he was “devastated” and “deeply saddened” to have to close the business he started.

He said: “This decision, as you can imagine, has not come lightly. Having formed the original business in 1994, me and my team have grown the business over the years employing nearly 300 staff since its formation.”

But he stressed that the past few years have been a struggle and said: “It has seen our model come under extreme pressure as a traditional estate agent with high street locations, paying not only rents but business rates and employing staff.

“With new competition and new models we have seen massive pressures on fees being reduced, at a time we have seen rising costs and a serious lack of property stock post the pandemic boom locally.

“Despite our best efforts to diversify into new markets including new home sales, we have been unable to produce the incomes required to sustain the business.”

Mr Blacklock added: “Having being involved in over 10,000 local property transactions over the years and being very much part of our communities, I would personally like to thank every single client that has supported us over the years, and to every single member of our team that have worked so hard to deliver a high-class service and genuinely caring for every client they have dealt with.

“I hope those that have dealt with us over the years know how hard we have worked to deliver an experience that was different from many other agents.

“As you can imagine, this has been the hardest decision I ever made in business and I would ask anyone that may know those that may be affected by this decision to give them the support they truly deserve.

“Maitlands has never just been a job for me and my team but a way of life and I hope every single member of the Maitlands team will soon be doing what they are great at again.”

Mr Blacklock set up Maitlands in 1994 with just two staff. As it grew and added three more offices, staff levels increase to more than 40 people by 2012. Prior to the Covid pandemic, Maitlands employed 16 staff across its remaining three offices.

During its halcyon days, the company won several national awards, and in 2011 took gold for best small South West agency in the Estate Agency of the Year Awards, in association with The Sunday Times and The Times. In the same awards, the firm’s ‘Fine and Country’ brand won the best marketing category.