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A leading Canberra independent has increased its headcount by about 25 per cent after swallowing up one of its strong local rivals.
Luton’s Tuggeranong office has purchased LJ Hooker Tuggeranong while also retaining the services of its directors Rob Matheson, Dan Cooper and Bill Ramey.
Luton director Richard Luton told REB that the eight-office group now has about 150 staff across eight offices after adding 29 LJ Hooker employees.
“We’ve taken on the rent roll, we’ve taken on the existing agents and property managers and administration staff,” he said.
Mr Luton said that although Luton’s Tuggeranong office was performing well, this represented a growth opportunity for the company.
“Their office has been there for a long, long time – a lot longer than ours – and they had a bigger rent roll and a bigger market share with their agents than we did,” he said.
“It was a very well-managed property management portfolio and property management is a good way of providing a bigger income.”
Luton Tuggeranong has moved into the LJ Hooker Tuggeranong premises after negotiating an exit from its own lease, according to Mr Luton.
Luton has purchased several other offices and rent rolls since it was founded in 1999.
“This one was a little different, because we took over staff entitlements as well. LJ Hooker was very successful, so they had a lot of staff there with long years of employment,” he said.
[Related: Luton agent wins seven listings from $500 investment]
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