BestAgent Appoints Experienced CFO Ahead of Funding Round
Press Release: London – 22 January – For Immediate Release
BestAgent, the forthcoming housing transaction marketplace founded by moving industry pioneer Charlie Lamdin, has appointed finance and operations specialist Joanna Monro FCA to its board as Chief Financial Officer.
This is in preparation for the first external investment round since its inception in 2016.
BestAgent is now in its early launch preparation phase. The funding round will grow the existing product team and recruit a new leadership team, with key roles opening up for a Head of Product, EA Industry Relations Manager, Product Partnership Manager (for the multiple partner businesses participating on the platform) and a Head of Communications to manage the extensive PR activities being prepared.
With 20 years in finance, accounting and operations, starting at global accounting network Baker Tilly, including 10 years at board finance C-suite level, with a stint at 17-branch estate agency Andrew Grant as Director of Finance and Operations, Joanna’s breadth of financial reporting, operational strategy and industry-specific knowledge lends itself to her new role at BestAgent.
Quotes
‘I was introduced to Joanna with a personal recommendation after I put out a call on LinkedIn for “the best accountant in the industry”’, said Lamdin.
‘I have had 30 years’ experience working with accountants at all levels. Joanna is in a league of her own and I genuinely can’t wait to see what we can achieve working together.’
‘First and foremost, having such an experienced, steady hand on the tiller will be of great reassurance to investors’, he added. ‘But what I’m most excited about is having someone who understands the financial workings of estate and lettings agent businesses with me to help develop BestAgent, and in particular BackOffice, into the biggest value-adding product agents have ever had available to them.’
Joanna said: ‘Charlie’s vision for the widespread benefits of faster housing transactions for society as a whole, and the potential benefits that has for social mobility and the economy, is as exciting as it is challenging. Building a thriving marketplace business on the back of helping home movers and professionals in the moving industry is an ambitious plan, but the benefits for all involved are obvious. The financials will be complex, given the number of different revenue streams, partners and products on offer, and that’s what attracts me.’
Advisory Board
BestAgent also has an advisory board of high-profile, well-known senior figures from both inside and outside the moving industry, including more than one with international recognition for being world leaders in their field.
Details of this major lineup will be announced in due course, along with provisional details of all the product partner businesses already working with BestAgent to create the transaction platform that intends to deliver on its strap line, Move Faster.
Ends.
Notes for editors:
BestAgent is a start-to-finish housing transaction platform built with the goal of halving transaction times in the UK.
After beginning his career as a derivatives broker in the city, Charlie Lamdin has been serving estate agency clients in both the UK and Australia since 1999. He is the only person to have conceived, designed and built three estate agency CRM systems, cumulatively handling millions of buyers’ and tenants’ home moves. This gave him unparalleled insight from an overview perspective of the dynamics of the home moving industry, including extensive involvement with all property portals going back to 2000.
He is also host of the popular social media channel Moving Home with Charlie, known for its blunt reporting on the harsh realities of moving home.
He is a father of three, and a private seaplane pilot.