‘OnTheMarket.com is here to stay’, says CEO
Ian Springett, Chief Executive of OnTheMarket.com, comments on the response from the open letter from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA): “Some of the response from certain quarters to the open letter from the CMA has, in our view, been at best opportunistic and misleading and at worst sensationalist and preposterous.
“The reality is that we welcome the CMA’s stance of cautioning agents against colluding. As a business we have consistently given agents precisely the same advice to make any decisions independently.
“The virulence of some of the attacks only serves to underline yet again the sensitivity of some of our detractors to the progress we are making and to the impact we are having on the market. For instance, the idea that the CMA letter should somehow trigger Board resignations at Agents’ Mutual is frankly ludicrous. There has been no suggestion from the CMA that OnTheMarket.com has acted improperly in any way. Indeed, the CMA explicitly writes that it sees no reason to be in touch with us.
“After just 15 months, OnTheMarket.com has established itself as a competitive force in the property portals marketplace and continues to grow in terms of agent support and consumer traffic. It might be disappointing for some of our detractors but OnTheMarket.com is here to stay. The overwhelming majority of our members remain supportive and determined to continue to build on the achievements so far.”