Purplebricks and Boomin boss Bruce is back with a new agency

One of the controversial Bruce brothers, founders of the ill-fated Purplebricks venture, is back in the agency business.

It’s almost a decade since Purplebricks launched in spring 2014 with Kenny Bruce as sales director - two years after the company was founded. 

He left Purplebricks in 2019 and went on to be a founder of similarly ill-fated portal Boomin. Both the Purplebricks and Boomin businesses also involved Kenny Bruce’s brother, Michael.

Boomin collapsed last year, but not before Kenny Bruce was awarded an MBE for “services to charity and the community” in his home town of Larne, County Antrim. 

Now he is back in business and described as “a veteran in estate agency with over 30 years of experience” having made “remarkable contributions to the sector”.

He has become a senior non-executive director of TAUK, a new hybrid self employed agency which calls itself “a cloud-based franchise brokerage business” with a claim of “nearly 100 partner agents across Great Britain.”

In a statement released over the weekend Kenny Bruce is described by the agency as an “esteemed industry leader.”

Also recruited to the top table of TAUK is Harry Hill, former chief executive of Countrywide, the first chairman of Rightmove and subsequently deputy chair of Hunters. He has now been named chairman of the TAUK board.

TAUK also claims it’s enjoyed the “successful completion of an oversubscribed funding round” although no figure for its fundraising has been released.

TAUK founder Mark Bruce says: "Our intention was always to offer a premium suite of services to ensure the success of each Estate Agent joining us to build their businesses. 

“This significant investment of capital, with the endorsement of Harry and Kenny, shows we have one of the best solutions for Estate Agents considering the self-employed route. 

“We are now poised to increase our Partner Agent headcount across the UK and look forward to talking with agents about how our support, lead generation and tools will give them a unique edge in the marketplace.”

The weekend statement by TAUK quotes Harry Hill as saying: “Various principles have always been paramount to me - principally that despite technology assistance, agency is a people business and that the finest businesses will always seek to attract, train, support and retain the best people.

“Those people will ask clients for and deserve premium fees and succeed by delivering on what they promise. 

“I was therefore delighted to be asked to chair this business where the founders passionately share my views-evidenced by the success that they have achieved to date against almost frightening market and interest rate head winds, and their sensible ambitions, which I totally share, are both achievable and exciting.” 

Steph Walker, chief sales officer of TAUK, says: “This influx of capital empowers us to further support and nurture our partner agents, enabling them to achieve unparalleled success and productivity. 

“It will bolster our digital marketing efforts to complement agents' activities in the field, attract top talent across the UK, and most excitingly, launch our highly anticipated Estate Agency Director Team model in key metropolitan markets."