Foxtons appoints Guy Gittins as chief executive

UK estate agent Foxtons has named a new chief executive as it seeks to address shareholder concerns about high pay and poor performance.

Guy Gittins, the former boss of rival agency Chestertons, will replace outgoing chief executive Nic Budden at the beginning of September.

Budden has stepped down from the role he held since 2014, leaving Peter Rollings, a non-executive director and former managing director of Foxtons, to act as interim chief.

The appointment follows agitation by increasingly vociferous activist shareholders for board-level change at Foxtons and completes a total shake-up of the estate agent’s management team over the past nine months.

Last year, two-fifths of shareholders revolted on executive pay, declining to approve a cash bonus of £389,000 and shares worth £569,000 for Budden — in part because Foxtons had claimed almost £7mn in government Covid support.

Foxtons’ largest shareholder, Hosking Partners, called for “radical change” at board level.

Another shareholder, Catalist Partners, put forward an alternative business plan last year that it says could turn the company, which has a £122mn market capitalisation, into a £1bn business by pushing beyond its traditional stamping grounds in London.

In March, the Financial Times revealed that Montreal-based fund Converium Capital had built a small stake in Foxtons and was pressing the company to sell itself.

Gittins’ appointment was decided by the board but there “was an urgency about getting on with things to satisfy shareholders”, according to one person with knowledge of the situation. Gittins will be tasked with focusing the business and turning around a years-long share price decline, he added.

Shares in Foxtons have tumbled from a peak of 399p in February 2014 to 36p on Friday, before Gittins’ appointment was announced. They rose almost 7 per cent on Monday morning to 39p.

Last October, Foxtons replaced its longtime chair Ian Barlow with City grandee Nigel Rich.

In December, chief financial officer Richard Harris was replaced by Chris Hough and last month chief operating officer Patrick Franco departed, and his duties were taken on by the chief executive.

The changes will cut Foxtons’ executive wage bill: Rich and Gittins have both taken lower salaries than their predecessors, Hough’s salary is more closely pegged to share performance and the COO role has been removed entirely.

Foxtons said that it had made “a good start to the financial year and current trading remains in line with the board’s expectations”.

Gittins started his career at Foxtons before leaving in 2007 to take up a sales role at a rival agency. He joined Savills in 2010 before moving to Chestertons in 2012 as the head of their flagship Chelsea office. He stepped down as chief executive last week.

“I am looking forward to working with the talented Foxtons team to realise the potential of the business and drive significant shareholder value,” he said.