Investment type
- Development capital
Yorkshire-based Linley & Simpson is a market-leading residential lettings and sales agency.
Partners for expansion
Will Linley and Nick Simpson, the firm’s management team, chose to partner with LDC in June 2018 when they required support for their buy and build expansion strategy.
The deal saw LDC back the management team with a £10m investment to drive acquisitions, as well as support technology developments to enhance its focus on delivering the best possible service to landlords, tenants, buyers and sellers.
Through our partnership with LDC, we aim to boost this growth and increase the number of properties we manage from 6,000 to 10,000 over the next three years, bringing our market-leading services to a wider range of customers across the Yorkshire region.”
Rapid acquisition
Just three months after the investment, Linley & Simpson took over the letting portfolios of Leeds-headquartered Hitchen & Co and McCartney Lettings, located at Bishopthorpe village in York.
In October 2018, Linley & Simpson continued its acquisition trail, welcoming the long-established Angus Roberts letting agency based in Ilkley.
A month later, the business acquired the residential sales-and-lettings business of Ilkley-headquartered Dale Eddison, a business that had earlier that year been crowned the UK’s Best Small Agency in the ESTA awards – the industry’s Oscars – earlier in the year.
The deal resulted in Linley & Simpson buying Dale Eddison’s five offices – located in Ilkley, Otley, Guiseley, Silsden and Skipton – to extend its presence across the sought-after Wharfe and Aire Valleys.
Achieving Ambition
In 2020, the management team completed its 18th acquisition since it partnered with LDC which includes independent agencies Inghams and Henleys Property Group, the Hull branch of Link Agency group, buying Ridings Property Management Services (RPMS) and its letting portfolio of more than 500 homes, the lettings arm of Simon Blyth and two acquisitions enabling Linley & Simpson to launch in Sheffield.
Linley & Simpson’s continued success is testament to a resilient business and ambitious management team. When we backed Will and Nick in June 2018, their plan was to increase the number of properties they managed from 6,000 to 10,000 in three years, and they’ve delivered in just two.”
Continued Support
In January 2021, LDC backed the creation of a new national lettings and estate agency group in a £100million transaction to merge Lomond Capital and Linley & Simpson. The new group, Lomond Group, has a combined portfolio of over 23,000 properties under management and major hubs in private rental hotspots including Aberdeen, Birmingham, Brighton, Edinburgh, Hull, Leeds Manchester, Sheffield and York. LDC is now supporting the group to grow organically and through acquisitions.
Awards
Growth Management Team of the Year
BVCA Yorkshire and North East Awards 2020
Gold
The Business Property Awards 2019
The Best Large Estate Agency
Yorkshire Residential Property Awards 2019
Deal of the Year (£5m – £25m)
Linley & Simpson – Insider Yorkshire Dealmakers
Property Management Department of the Year
The Negotiator Magazine 2019
Best in the UK: Land and New Home Team
The Negotiator Magazine 2019