Bellwood & Harris deal is My Property Box's 13th

The first deal of 2025 kept My Property Box close to home. In February the group bought Bellwood & Harris, a Darlington agency with a 150-property portfolio assembled over 16 years, for a sum neither side disclosed. It was the 13th business to join in seven years.

Two friends, Helen Bellwood and Justine Harris, had started the agency in 2009 and run it from premises on Yarm Road. Those 150 managed homes have now moved to My Property Box, whose head office stands in the same town, and the Yarm Road office has closed. The founders' aim was to free themselves for other business interests while handing their landlords and tenants to an organisation able to offer broader services and the benefits of scale.

Only weeks earlier the group had taken on Northallerton's fourth-generation firm John Prest and Landlords 2 of Darlington. Behind all three deals sat the July 2024 investment from BGF, the most active growth capital investor operating in the UK and Ireland. The group described the Bellwood & Harris purchase as a further milestone in its progress across North Yorkshire and the North East.

Chief executive Ben Quaintrell said: "This acquisition represents another significant milestone in our expansion as we continue to grow our footprint across the North East and North Yorkshire. Bellwood & Harris has built an excellent reputation for customer service, which perfectly aligns with our own values."

He went on: "Our commitment is to provide their clients with the same exceptional service they've come to expect, while also offering access to our cutting-edge technology and expert support."

Co-founder Justine Harris explained the decision: "After many rewarding years serving landlords and tenants, we felt the time was right to step down and entrust our business to a larger organisation that shares our passion for delivering exceptional customer service."

She was confident about what came next: "My Property Box has a fantastic reputation, and we are confident our clients will benefit from their innovative approach and expanded range of services. Growing Bellwood & Harris into a trusted agency has been a privilege, and I know Ben and his team will continue to build on that legacy."

Retirement is not the only trigger for a sale. Plenty of owners simply want their time back for other projects, with the reassurance that clients are properly looked after. If that sounds familiar, a discreet conversation is easily arranged.