My Property Box lands multi-million pound BGF investment

Funding for a faster pace: in July 2024 My Property Box agreed a multi-million pound investment from BGF, money intended to speed up an acquisition programme that had already brought ten businesses into the Darlington-headquartered group since 2019.

Residential lettings is the heart of the operation Ben Quaintrell started in 2012. Managing homes for professional tenants and students alike, the group works across the North East from bases in Darlington and Newcastle, and its estate agency arm has long handled residential sales throughout the region. The ten agencies bought over the preceding five years shared a single purpose: assembling a lettings platform with genuine regional scale.

Founded in 2011, BGF has invested £4bn in more than 560 companies through a network of 15 offices, usually taking a minority stake, and describes itself as the most active growth capital investor across the UK and Ireland. James Baker, of its Yorkshire and North East team, led the transaction and took a board seat on completion. Joining him was Richard Smith, appointed non-executive chair, a buy-and-build specialist who has scaled acquisitive platforms in a number of different sectors.

Quaintrell, the group's founder and chief executive, set out the thinking behind the deal: "The North East lettings market remains fragmented, presenting us with opportunity to capitalise on our successful buy and build strategy. To execute this, we needed a long-term investment partner that shared our vision and understood the potential that exists - both in the company and in the market. In BGF, we believe we have found this, and we're looking forward to taking our growth plans to the next level with the support of a trusted investor."

From the investor's side, Baker pointed to a record already established: "My Property Box has a proven track record of executing its M&A strategy, with a clear ambition to scale at pace. It is set to build on this momentum, establishing itself as the residential lettings platform of choice across the North East."

Advice on the transaction came from Ward Hadaway, where James Nightingale and Jamie Guy acted for BGF, with tax input from Toyan Williams of the Tax Advisory Partnership. Kirsty Adamson and Eleanor Baird of Weightmans advised the management team.

With committed backing behind us, decisions come quickly and offers are made fairly. Any agency owner curious about what a sale might involve is welcome to raise it with us in confidence.