Jobs safe at estate agencies (From Gazette & Herald)

Jobs safe at estate agencies

FORTY-NINE staff at Reeds Rains and Your Move estate agencies in North Yorkshire have been told their jobs are safe.

The assurance follows an announcement that Lending Solutions Ltd, parent company of Reeds Rains, had acquired the Your Move national network for an undisclosed sum.

There is already a double overlap of each firm in York, with a Reeds Rains in both Micklegate and in The Village, Haxby, and a Your Move in King's Square, plus a double doubling-up in Harrogate, with Reeds Rains and a Your Move both in Albert Street, plus a Your Move office in Harrogate High Street.

Reeds Rains has 33 staff at its branches in Harrogate, Malton, Selby, York and Haxby, while Your Move employs a total of 16 at its branches in York, Malton and Harrogate

But a spokeswoman for Lending Solutions said: "We have no intention of closing down any of our branches as a result of this acquisition. Terms and conditions will remain the same and there will be no redundancies.

"What is more, both agencies will retain their own branding. It will be business as normal." Lending Solutions is preparing for the Government's new "home information pack" rules which come into force in January 2007 - a pack which vendors must have before they can sell their homes, much like a car MoT.

It plans to use another of its subsidiaries, chartered surveyors e.surv, to offer vendors of the future a one-stop shop to ensure that all the necessary facts appear in the home information pack.

The acquisition of Your Move means that the package can be extended more widely throughout the country.

Updated: 12:31 Wednesday, October 19, 2005