Important Announcement from Rightmove

A recent letter to all Rightmove agents has sparked a few blogs and many comments. Indeed, the EAT headline by claiming up to 60 Rightmove jobs will go.

The familiar Rightmove bashing is of course now going on, but I thought I would just share the letter with you verbatim so you can decide for yourself.


Dear [Agent],

I’m writing to you to tell you about some changes we are making in light of the current economic and housing markets. Rightmove will significantly increase its consumer marketing spend and make organisational changes to better support estate agents who are embracing the switch to on-line media.

In this tough market our focus is on ensuring that you have all the support necessary to get the most from the Rightmove service to deliver the best possible results for your clients. As a result of reaching 90% of all agents with strong coverage in every part of Britain we are planning to move from a sales oriented structure to an account management structure.

The key changes are:

1. a re-organisation of the existing estate agency sales team and customer service teams into account management teams each covering a region of the country;
2. a scaling back of the size of the Rightmove Overseas business to reflect a decreased demand for property in continental Europe; and
3. a general reduction in overheads in line with the tough trading conditions being experienced by the property industry as a whole.

As you may be aware, there is a legal process which lays out the timescales that must be followed when re-organising. We will therefore be in a position by the end of November to let you know of any changes to your contact points due to the introduction of account managers. In the meantime please contact our customer service team as usual on 0845 338 0071 should you have any needs or queries.

With most agents cutting back drastically on traditional paper advertising, your internet strategy has become a key way to reach your target audience, and we want to ensure you can rely on Rightmove. Many property portals have seen activity on their sites fall by up to 30% since the middle of the year while Rightmove’s own site traffic has been far more robust. During September we had a massive 38 million visits and, as a result of the changes outlined above, we will be able to substantially increase our investment in consumer marketing during 2009.

Thank you for your continued business,

Yours sincerely,

Ed Williams
Group Managing Director
Rightmove