Countrywide buys Sutton Kersh and Clive Watkin

The UK’s largest estate agent has continued its expansion with the acquisition of Merseyside agencies Sutton Kersh and Clive Watkin for undisclosed sums.

Countrywide sold £19bn of property last year in around one million separate transactions. Turnover was £702m, producing a pre-tax profit of £79.65m.

Clive Watkin Partnership has a network of 15 estate agency and letting branches across Liverpool and Wirral, as well as a land and new homes operation.

Sutton Kersh has six branches across Liverpool, providing a broad range of expertise covering residential sales, lettings and property management, commercial property, auctions, mortgages, surveys, valuations, and energy performance assessments.

This is not the first exposure to the Merseyside market for Countrywide, which already owns the Entwistle Green brand in the area.

Sam Tyrer, retail managing director at Countrywide, said: “We have a unique ability to grow businesses by ensuring they operate autonomously, retain their local heritage and benefit from our ongoing investment and support.

“This is an exciting period for Countrywide as the growth of our retail business unit continues to be a major focus in our plan to double the size of Countrywide over the coming five years.”

At the same time, Countrywide announced it had acquired John Francis, consisting of 21 branches covering Swansea and South Wales.