Peter Long, chairman, said the reason for the company’s problems were self inflicted, blaming previous management for a series of own goals Tom StockillThe chairman of Britain’s biggest estate agent has attacked the company’s former management after Countrywide reported a £212 million loss and scrapped its dividend. Peter Long said that the company had been run like a retail business rather than an estate agent which had led to it “losing all the key strengths we had”. Shares in Countrywide, which owns 50 high street estate agency brands, including Hamptons International, Bairstow Eves and Bridgfords, fell by 20 per cent after the release of what the company described as “disappointing” results. They later recovered to close down 6 per cent at 83p. The FTSE 250 company reported a pre-tax loss of £212.1 million in 2017, owing to one-off costs, compared to profits of £19.5 million the year before.

Source: The Times March 08, 2018 17:10 UTC