OnTheMarket PLC (LON:OTMP) CEO Ian Springett, talks to DirectorsTalk about company performance since IPO. Ian explains what the company is trying to achieve, the key strategic elements in meeting those objectives, what the company have focused on since IPO and what should investors look for over the coming months to assess it’s value and potential.
Launched in January 2015, the OnTheMarket.com property portal was created by Agents’ Mutual Limited, a company limited by guarantee and founded in January 2013 by a small group of agent firms, with the objective of creating a new portal to challenge the dominance of Rightmove and Zoopla. Both groups were felt to be using their strong positions relative to their agent customers to impose significant price increases for their portal services.
The Agents’ Mutual proposition of an agent-backed portal offering a premier search service to consumers whilst charging fair prices to agents quickly found support among a very wide group of leading independent agents across the UK. These firms funded the venture by way of loan note subscriptions and committed to list with the portal once it went live. The company is the third biggest UK residential property portal provider in terms of traffic and has, with backing from its agent owners, developed unique sources of competitive advantage such as the “New and Exclusive” property listings. It was admitted to AIM on Friday 9 February 2018 alongside a capital raise of £30 million to support a new growth strategy for the business.