Founders Unite behind CIELA – “Independent agents to own their future”:

Following on from our exclusive interview with Charlie Wright of CIELA last week – They have now had their Founder Members meeting – News Update:

Attendees at today’s preliminary meeting of prospective Founder Members of the Charter for Independent Estate and Letting Agents, all active owner-managers of independent firms, have unanimously signed a Letter of Intent to move forward with the formal inauguration, expressing total support for the idea based on what was presented to them today.

– The next meeting, an all day session to review details of the proposed club articles, proposals, membership offerings and contracts, will be held on Wednesday 22nd February at a location to be confirmed, with a view to formal inauguration on 1st March.

The Names of the Founder Members are:

Donald Collins – Go View London, http://www.goviewlondon.co.uk/
Tom Bloomfield – Bloomfield Grey, http://bloomfieldgrey.co.uk/
Richard à Brassard – Courtenay, www.courtenay.co.uk
Kristjan Byfield – Base Property Specialists www.baseps.co.uk
Nick Goldsworthy/Andy Ferguson – Logic Estates, www.logicestates.co.uk
Peter Wetherell – Wetherell of Mayfair, www.wetherell.co.uk
Jay Chitnis – HJC Estates, www.hjc.co.uk
Perry Power – Power Bespoke, www.powerbespoke.co.uk
Luke Gidney – Let Leeds, www.let-leeds.com

Simon Gresswell – Finlay Brewer, www.finlaybrewer.co.uk

There is a waiting list of 16 further agency owners who have asked to be considered for any un-taken positions which may arise.

The two remaining positions are being held for female founders, and it is the Club’s hope that at least one but preferably two women Founder Members apply to join, and to that end we welcome any applications either by email to club.secretary@ciela.co.uk or via the registration form on our website at www.ciela.co.uk/register.

The question of whether or not a challenger portal might be launched was not discussed at this meeting, but it was re-confirmed by the Club Founder Charlie Wright that, even if the club succeeds in gathering the required support to launch, and even if members demand a vote and vote in favour of launching a new portal, such a vote is, at the very soonest, one year away, and a portal offering does not constitute part of the launch plans of the CIELA organisation.

The overwhelming topic of discussion was the lack of success or total support for any organisation launched to date, and how to overcome the understandable cynicism within the industry, having had it’s fingers burnt so often in the past.

The question raised was, with the required initial membership structure of Founder Members, Regional, County and London Borough officers which would total almost 100 club officers, what would be necessary to win the majority support of the approximately 15,000 small independent agency businesses across the country.

“Will independent agents unite swiftly in majority numbers?” was seen as the major question, and received unanimous support for the outline idea. The Founder outlined his strategy for overcoming this challenge, and explained that he has a detailed 8 point plan to ensure that every independent agent in the country will want to join from the outset, a plan he will present in detail at the next meeting.

Christopher Walkey

Founder of Estate Agent Networking. Internationally invited speaker on how to build online target audiences using Social Media. Writes about UK property prices, housing, politics and affordable homes.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Prime London buyer demand strengthens in Q2

aThe latest Prime London Demand Index by London lettings and estate agent, Benham and Reeves, reveals that buyer demand across London’s prime property market strengthened during the second quarter of 2026, with overall demand reaching 14.5%. The capital’s family-focused prime neighbourhoods continued to lead the way, with Clapham, Wandsworth, and Chiswick among the strongest performing…
Read More
Breaking News

Mortgage rates fall at fastest pace in almost two years

Moneyfacts UK Mortgage Trends Treasury Report data reveals fixed mortgage rates have recorded their biggest monthly reductions since October 2024. Product choice rose and the churn of mortgage deals was stable. Fixed mortgage rates dropped for a consecutive month, citing the biggest monthly reductions since October 2024, with the average two- and five-year fixed rates…
Read More
Breaking News

Breaking Property News 13/7/26

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   How Prevou created the world’s most enthusiastic salesperson for estate agents   A fly on the wall analysis of how and why successful technology companies solve big problems for small estate agencies in the UK Every successful business starts with a problem. For Prevou, that…
Read More
Letting Agent Talk

Landlords and tenants advised to work together to get through extreme heatwaves

With some areas set to be hotter than Portugal this week, lettings and estate agents across the UK are issuing advice to protect properties ahead of extreme weather Prolonged periods of hot weather across the UK are placing additional pressure on homes, from overheating and poor ventilation to damage caused by extreme temperatures. Today, lettings…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

Nearly half of UK home listings fail to sell

A London estate agent has warned that thousands of homeowners across the UK are pricing themselves out of the market by setting asking prices that no longer reflect what buyers are willing to pay. The warning comes after new analysis by Zoopla, covering more than two million property listings between 2023 and 2026, found that…
Read More
Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Lowest number of new build developments coming to market since 2017

New analysis from the UK’s largest property platform Rightmove reveals that the number of new build housing developments coming to market is at its lowest level since January 2017 The figures are despite the government’s target to build 1.5 million homes over the course of this parliament Higher mortgage rates continue to set a challenging…
Read More