Controversial ex-Countrywide boss appointed to new post

Almost six years after her departure as chief executive of Countrywide, Alison Platt has been appointed to a new senior position.

She is to become the non-executive chair of the Hargreaves Lansdown wealth management consultancy.  

Platt joined Countrywide when it was the UK's largest agency but her tenure was extraordinarily tumultuous.

In March 2014 Countrywide’s share price was sailing high at 686.00p; a series of falls meant that by late 2016 the listing was dropped from the FTSE 250 and had fallen below 170.00p; by early 2018, around the time Platt resigned, it hit 103.00p - at that time, its lowest ever closing price.

When Platt left she is reported to have received her final year’s salary in one lump sum, after Countrywide issued its second profit warning in three months.

Platt’s time in office at Countrywide was marked by a series of reorganisations, restructurings and resignations, and the departure of many hugely experienced agents.

Some six months after Platt’s arrival the former managing director of estate agency and the group commercial director at Countrywide both stood down at short notice; others followed. Many new senior executives came in with little or no agency background, including a ‘Managing Director, Retail’ from Dixons Carphone and a head of marketing from the BBC. Countrywide’s Group HR director was recruited from Bupa, where Platt also worked before arriving at Countrywide.

More tumult followed at Countrywide following Platt’s departure and in March 2021 Connells Group completed a highly-anticipated acquisition of the once-great agency business. 

Platt will join Hargreaves Lansdown early in 2024, subject to formal approval. 

She is currently chair of Dechra Pharmaceuticals PLC, a veterinary drugmaker, which is being taken over by a Swedish private equity firm and a UAE sovereign wealth fund. Platt also is a non-executive director of Tesco PLC and chair of general insurer Ageas (UK) Ltd.