Snapped Up! More independents acquired by ambitious agency group

The Lomond Group - which has ambitions to become a national operation - has announced two further acquisitions for one of its brands.

It has acquired the sales and rentals business of homes4u, a player in the Manchester market for over 30 years; it’s also acquired the student accommodation specialist Around Town Flats. 

These have been acquired by Lomond’s Thornley Groves agency, which has now secured 10 acquisitions in little over a year – almost tripling the size of its business. It currently has nearly 6,000 properties under its management compared to 2,400 at the end of 2020.

According to chief executive Jason Watkin, the latest deals form another major step forward in its aim to accelerate this portfolio past the 10,000 unit milestone by the end of 2022.

“These deals represent a perfect strategic and geographical fit,” he says. “The offices we inherit from homes4u equip us with a golden opportunity to consolidate our Manchester presence by launching in new, bullseye locations.

“This springboard includes Deansgate, a bustling mile-long stretch of road that connects pretty much every part of the city centre, as well as the in-demand and vibrant student suburb of Fallowfield. 

“The opening of these flagship branches will increase our network to 11, including three in the city centre, where the resurgence in new build shows no sign of slowing.

“Just within the last few days, permission was approved to create four huge new towers - including a 60-storey skyscraper – as part of a £494m scheme to create 1,950 apartments.”

Thornley Groves became part of Lomond Capital in 2013 and at the end of 2020 the Lomond Group merged with Linley & Simpson joining forces to co-create a new national lettings and sales business. 

The group now has a combined portfolio of over 30,000 properties under management and major hubs in private rental hotspots including Aberdeen, Birmingham, Brighton, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield and York.

It has brought together letting and estate agencies including Linley & Simpson, Thornley Groves, Brand Vaughan, Michael Jones & Company, and John Shepherd in England;  plus Stonehouse, Braemore, Fineholm and the recently-acquired DJ Alexander in Scotland.

The Lomond Group has the backing of private equity firm LDC, with access to further acquisition investment provided by LGT Capital Partners