E-Real Estate Purplebricks 4/13

E-Real Estate Purplebricks 4/13


Purplebricks is a British online estate agent. Founded in 2012 by Michael Bruce and Kenny Bruce, it is backed by investors that includ e venture capital firm DN Capital as well as Neil Woodford, Paul Pindar, and Errol Damelin.

In December 2015, The Guardian reported that Purplebricks was set for flotation, and would début on London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) on 17 December, with an exposure valuation of £240 million.

In December 2016, it was reported that Purplebricks had made its first ever profit, a modest £300,000, in the six months to end October 2016.

In August 2017, Purplebricks was featured on BBC’s Watchdog following an investigation into claims of misleading customers.

On 14 September 2017, consumer review website Trustpilot issued an open letter clarifying its Purplebricks review policy following allegations concerning the ‘validity of reviews of Purplebricks by customers’.

In September 2017, Purplebricks was officially launched in the US. In September 2017, the company was accused of ‘corporate bullying’ following suspension from estate agent review website allAgents.co.uk. Purplebricks threatened the consumer review website with legal action over the publication Of negative reviews due to the site’s lack of vetting for such leaving reviews.

In August 2018, the Australian Financial Review (AFR) reported troubling management and lacklustre sales issues.