The chair of Foxtons, Nigel Rich, has used the company annual statement to shareholders to pledge continued work on improving culture at the agency group.

Rich tells shareholders in a statement issued through the London Stock Exchange: “We are firmly focused on building a high-performance culture which inspires all of our people to deliver the very best results for our customers and each other. The Board is acutely focused on building this culture within an environment which is inclusive, professional and respectful.

“The Board takes this very seriously and monitors culture through a variety of mechanisms, including reviewing employee engagement surveys, visiting branches, non-executive directors attending each Employee Engagement Committee meeting, and monitoring a range of culture performance indicators.

“[Chief executive Guy Gittens] has been instrumental in bringing cultural change to Foxtons, and with a clear tone from the top, he has made changes to create a more respectful and inclusive environment which attracts, retains and motivates the Foxtons team. 2024 saw a number of culture enhancing initiatives rolled out, including mandatory annual respect and inclusion training, enhancing the Group’s speak up processes and relaunching the Group’s employee value proposition. 

“Although significant steps have been taken to enhance our culture, we are determined to continue improving, build on the work to date, and this will remain a key area of focus throughout 2025.”

The statement from Rich follows two mainstream media outlets last week reported allegations of sexual misconduct, heavy drinking and discriminatory comments against employees. Around a dozen current and former employees described “unwanted physical contact, requests for sex or other explicit and offensive comments” between 2021 and last year. 

Gittens, in his part of the statement to shareholders, adds: “We are focused on creating an environment which attracts, motivates and retains a diverse team of talent, that can together deliver excellent customer outcomes. Although significant progress has been made over the last two years, including the introduction of mandatory annual respect and inclusion training, strengthened ED&I policies, and enhanced whistleblowing and speak up processes, there remains more to do. This is particularly important to me and we remain steadfast in our commitment to an inclusive, professional and respectful culture and we will continue to seek further improvement and progress.

“Changes made to date are supporting our transformation, including: a 25% increase in female managers over the last two years; improving employee engagement; and a 12% increase in employee retention rates since 2022 as new career development and diversity programmes take effect. Our latest employee engagement survey, indicated that 87% of employees believe Foxtons values diversity and builds diverse teams, and 81% of employees recommend Foxtons as a great place to work, 8% higher than equivalent businesses in the UK. 

“These initiatives are particularly important to me and while progress has been made, we recognise there is more we can and should do. We remain steadfast in our commitment to an inclusive, professional and respectful culture and we will continue to seek further improvements and progress.”

Elsewhere in the statement to shareholders, Gittens described the company’s lettings arm as providing steady, recurring revenues underpinning company profitability.

“In October 2024, we acquired Haslams Estate Agents and Imagine Property Group, both businesses with strong lettings portfolios, taking us into the exciting new growth markets of Reading and Watford. Last week, as part of our Watford growth plan, we acquired Marshall Vizard, a high-quality lettings business that further strengthens Foxtons’ Watford presence and market share” he says.

In terms of organic growth, Foxtons has reported: “Lettings revenue increased by 5% or £4.8 million to £106.0 million, with acquisitions contributing £4.3 million of incremental revenue alongside £1.0 million of additional interest on client monies. Organic revenue was broadly flat as strong new business growth and increased property management revenues, were offset by an expected temporary reduction in the volume of existing tenancies re-transacting following longer tenancy terms signed in 2022 and 2023. Lettings adjusted operating profit margin remained strong at 26% (2023: 27%).

“Operational improvements, including improved brand visibility, enhanced data capabilities, and proactive customer acquisition strategies, supported strong landlord retention and incremental growth in revenue per landlord. We recognise customer service is key to delivering long term growth, to this end we embedded a real-time customer satisfaction feedback system, enabling us to gather valuable and actionable insights across various customer segments and refine our processes to better align with customer expectations.”