A London-founded estate agency network with over 100 independently run offices across the UK, and the first in the UK to franchise.
Winkworth is an estate agency network that sells, lets and manages homes through offices owned and run by local businesspeople. Its own pages describe over 100 offices across the UK, more than 55 of them in London and over 45 outside it. Most of those offices are franchises, meaning the local owner runs their own business under the Winkworth name and gets support from head office with marketing, technology and compliance. Services cover residential sales, lettings and property management, and specialist teams look after new homes, land and development, relocation and an Asia-Pacific desk.
The company's history is long. Its page says Samuel Donaldson began the agency in Mayfair in 1835. In 1893 Henry St John Winkworth took it over and renamed it, and in 1974 Simon Agace bought it. In 1981, Winkworth became the first estate agency in the UK to adopt franchising, starting with ten London offices. It was one of the first agencies to launch a website, in 1998, and joined the AIM market in 2009. In 2025 it marked 190 years. Dominic Agace has been chief executive since 2009.
The company's headquarters is at 80 Strand, London. Beyond London it has franchised offices across England, and in 2009 it also had offices in France and Portugal, with a Spain office added later. Winkworth's website says its head office team numbered 34 in 2017, which is a dated figure. Because each office is locally owned, a person working at Winkworth in Bath, Brighton or Bromley works for a small local firm, not a large corporate employer.
Winkworth's core message is "Local knowledge, personal service, trusted nationwide". It also says helping clients write their own property journeys is the most important thing it does, and its self-regulation page uses the words "transparency, integrity and doing the right thing". It states that each office is run by a local professional who is personally invested in their community, and that trainee negotiators can progress to running their own Winkworth business, with several directors having done so. These are the company's own claims.
Roles in a Winkworth office include negotiators for sales and lettings, valuers, property managers, administrators and office managers. At the centre, head office staff work on marketing, technology, compliance, training and franchisee support, and the company has run a recruitment service for franchisees since 2017. The route that interests many people is the one the firm itself highlights, from trainee negotiator to owner. If you want to work for a small local firm, or one day run your own, the franchise model is worth a look. Check the website for offices near you.
Website: www.winkworth.co.uk
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