easyJet founder to launch property firm
The founder of easyJet has confirmed suspicions of tapping into the commercial property market by launching a new firm
Section: Interviews
The founder of easyJet has confirmed suspicions of tapping into the commercial property market by launching a new firm.
Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, best known as the founder of EasyJet, is to launch an online estate and letting agency under the title easyProperty.
A holding website has been set up - www.easyproperty.com - and it states: “In true “easy” style we are going to shake up the UK property market to make buying, selling, renting and letting simple, quick and cost effective. That is what we do best!”
No date has been set for the launch (except the website promises it is "coming soon") but the public relations journal PR Week says Sir Stelios is shortly going to select a public relations firm to represent the business.
The holding website further claims the new venture is a partnership between Sir Stelios’ easyGroup and property entrepreneur Robert Ellice. Ellice started working in estate agency when he was a teenager and has 20 years’ experience in the residential property market.There had been speculation in the past that easyGroup would involve itself with property; in 2009 Sir Stelios gave interviews suggestion he may become a player in commercial property.
easyGroup’s current ventures include easyCar (a rental business now being rolled out across several UK cities), easyBus (a hotel-to-airport bus service), easyHotel (low-cost hotel rooms in many major cities worldwide), easyFoodstore (with a pilot project in Croydon) and easyGym (which runs 10 no-contract gyms across the UK).
Keywords: Stelios Haji-Ioannou, easyJet, easyProperty, commercial property, launch, foudner, online estate and letting agency, website, UK property market, buying, selling, renting