CWD.L Regulatory News (CWD)

3 July 2015

Announcement of Countrywide plc Executive Team Appointments and Change to Segment Structure

Countrywide plc is pleased to announce a number of key appointments to our Executive Team and changes to its segmental structure which will lay the foundations for delivering the ambitions of our Building our Future programme.

The key focus for Building our Future is to build a bigger and better company. With that emphasis, four business units (Retail, B2B, London and Financial Services) supported by a central team (Finance, HR, Transformation and Marketing) have been put in place to enable first class performance and ensure everyone is ready to progress at pace.

Bringing our core Estate Agency and Lettings divisions into one retail structure will allow our people in those areas to work closer together to drive further opportunities for the Group. Similarly, consolidating all of our B2B streams will help us better serve our corporate customers and deliver further possibilities for additional growth in this area. London and Financial Services both remain critical to our future plans.

The revised external reporting structure results in the Group reporting through the following four segments: Retail, Business to Business, London and Financial Services. For the period ending 31 December 2015 Countrywide will report results under the existing segments in addition to providing comparative financial data for the new structure. 

In addition to Jim Clarke, Chief Financial Officer, the following new appointments to our Executive Team will support Alison Platt, Chief Executive Officer:

Managing Director, Retail, Samantha Tyrer - Sam joins from Dixons Carphone where she was responsible for 8,500 people across 1,100 branches. Sam's experience includes leading a retail turnaround strategy in 2012 by implementing a new digital strategy, transforming the customer journey to achieve significant EBITDA growth and 14% NPS uplift for the organisation. Sam's vast retail experience will be instrumental in leading the transformation of our sales and lettings businesses.

Managing Director, Business to Business, Paul Creffield - With nearly 20 years industry experience, Paul is best placed to lead our B2B offering (Lambert Smith Hampton, Land & New Homes including Hamptons Residential Development Investment, Professional Services, Corporate Property Services and Corporate Business) to ensure it is leveraged to its maximum across the Group.

Managing Director, London, Graham Bell - Having led the recent Building our Future Strategy programme while Finance Director across Estate Agency, Financial Services and London & Premier, Graham will now focus on developing our strategy and plan for London as we seek to grow the business across our key target segments. Graham will also continue to lead the Residential Property Investment team.

Managing Director, Financial Services, Peter Curran - Peter joined this year from Lloyds Banking Group and his role, subject to FCA approval will be effective from 1 September 2015. Peter has a clear mandate to lead the financial service teams bringing together their wealth of capabilities so as one team they drive future growth, capitalising on the growing broker market.

Group HR Director, Kate Brown - Kate joined from Bupa in March 2015 and will lead the implementation of the people agenda. Kate brings a range of specialist experience across Talent Management, Employee Engagement, Leadership Development and Performance Management.

Group Transformation & Change Director, Andrew Pennells - Formerly Sales Director with our Estate Agency Division, Andrew will focus on leading the transformational change agenda as part of the Building our Future Programme.

Commenting on the new Executive Team Structure, Alison Platt, Chief Executive Officer, Countrywide plc, said:

"I am delighted to welcome Sam, Peter and Kate to Countrywide and also Paul, Graham and Andrew into their new roles. We also say goodbye to Nigel Stockton who has decided to take on a new opportunity as CEO of Bellpenny, a national wealth management organisation. I'd like to thank Nigel for the significant contribution he has made to Countrywide and we wish him well in his move."

"We are very excited about these appointments and believe this new Executive team with its careful balance of sector experience, national experience and the very best external talent puts us in the best shape possible to deliver on the ambitions of our strategy. Driven by our unwavering focus on the customer and our passion to create an environment that allows our people to provide the best possible service we can, for our customers and for each other, we will ensure everyone working at Countrywide is focused on pursuing our purpose of bringing people and property together."

For further information, please contact:Jim Clarke, Group Chief Financial OfficerTel: 07970 477299Email: jim.clarke@countrywide.co.uk

Countrywide plc

· Countrywide plc is the UK's largest property services Group, including the UK's largest estate and letting agency network of over 1,300 branches operating under 48 well known high street brands. Countrywide plc sold £18.6 billion worth of property in 2014

· Countrywide plc is a leading provider of estate agency, lettings, mortgage services, land and new homes, auctions, surveying, conveyancing, corporate property management services and commercial property.

· Countrywide plc helped over 120,000 households to move home in 2014. 

· Countrywide plc agreed a house sale every 1.6 minutes, let a property every 4 minutes, completed a survey / valuation every hour in 2014 and as the UK's third largest mortgage distributor Countrywide plc arranges 1 in 20 of all mortgages arranged in the UK in 2014.