Humberts to be placed into administration

One of the country's oldest estate agents, Humberts, is to be placed into administration.

The news was broken to staff on Friday and it is understood that some 48 jobs may be affected. They were informed that the board of directors has concluded that the company is not in a position to continue trading and that steps are being taken to place the company into administration.

Staff were also told that the company's trading activities would be closed immediately and they were being made redundant. It is not known whether franchisees of Humberts might be affected.

The telephone at Humberts' flagship "hub" in Dorset was picked up by an answering service and the live chat service on the Humberts website was working normally at the weekend, with the assistant telling us that the agent was open.

Humberts' properties are still being listed on the portals, including 29 in Dorset according to Rightmove. The latest was listed on November 25, while a property added on November 19 is marked as under offer.

There are also residential branches of Humberts in the Cotswolds, Devon, Dorset, Sussex, Kent, Somerset and Cornwall. Commercial branches are also part of the Humberts business and include locations in the Lake District, Dorset and Somerset.

Humberts was founded in 1842. It merged with Chestertons in 2009 with both businesses in trouble during the recession. The two de-merged in 2013 but Humberts went into administration in April 2018.

It was then bought by a holiday lettings business, Natural Retreats, headed by Matt Spence.

The new owners embarked on a programme of replacing high street branches with 'hubs', the first of which was at Poundbury, Dorset. It appointed Tim Simmons as CEO in May. He started at Humberts' office in Bridport, Dorset, in 1999 as a junior negotiator.

Speculation about Humberts was posted on social media.