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Jobs hang in balance
From the Swindon Advertiser, first published Friday 22nd Dec 2000.
JOBS in Wiltshire are among about 280 hanging in the balance after estate agency chain Darlows went into receivership.
KPMG Corporate Recovery is seeking buyers for the 39 offices, which were closed Friday, December 22, after the residential and commercial agency collapsed.
A further 45 offices have already been sold to the Spicerhaart Group, which will deal with customer queries from the other offices for the time being.
At its height, the firm had four branches in the Swindon area in Commercial Road, Highworth; Swindon Road, Stratton St Margaret; High Street, Highworth; and High Street, Wootton Bassett.
In spite of repeated attempts to contact the firm's London-based press office, nobody was today available for comment.
The majority of Darlows offices are based in south Wales and the west of England. The company employed a total of 700 full and part-time staff.
Richard Hill, of KPMG, said discussions with other estate agents were taking place in an effort to save the closed offices.
He added: "We are delighted to have secured a sale to Spicerhaart which has preserved approximately half the jobs.
"We continue to seek buyers for the remaining Darlows' branches either on an individual basis or groups, and are in urgent discussions with other agents."
Darlows' downfall marks the end of one of the most spectacular success stories in the industry since the glory days of the 1980s London property boom were curtailed by the stockmarket crash of 1987.
The firm began in 1991 with a single office in Wales, and owner Alan Darlow oversaw eastward expansion through Bristol, Somerset and Wiltshire.
Marketing strategies included innovative advertising, such as the firm's best known television commercial a shot of Mr Darlow's back with a soundtrack saying it was the sight other estate agents most wanted to see.
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