Just three years after opening the doors to its Woollahra office, Gavin Rubinstein’s TRG agency is set to expand to Rose Bay – but it won’t be doing it with Ray White branding.
The Luxe Listings Sydney star will still be a part of the wider Ray White family but from July 1 will no longer be branded under the Ray White name, according to realestate.com.au.
In a letter to Ray White franchise holders, Ray White Managing Director Dan White revealed the decision had been made collectively and the featured branding would simply be TRG.
Mr Rubinstein plans to keep the current Woollahra office he opened in 2019, but also open a new Rose Bay headquarters in September.
Mr White said it wasn’t possible to “facilitate this aspiration” under the Ray White brand due to the impact it would have on other Ray White business owners, but that the group wanted to keep its relationship with one of its best performers.
“In dealing with this issue, one option for us would be to simply farewell Gavin and his team,” Mr White said in the letter.
“By doing so, we gain a competitor and lose all the creativity and energy that would have otherwise remained in our group.”
In an interview with Ray White Group Head of Performance Tim Snell, and published on Elite Agent in late 2021, Mr Rubinstein flagged that he would open a new office in Rose Bay this year.
Mr Snell quizzed Mr Rubinstein on why, with TRG being such a strong brand, he stayed with Ray White.
“Honest answer is I’ve got a very, very good relationship with the White family,” Mr Rubinstein said.
“It’s a formula that has worked over quite a decent period of time and I really appreciate that relationship. And I think it’s a formula that works.”
Mr Rubinstein also said competition drives him.
“You just have to ask yourself, do you want to compete on a big stage under the bright lights for Australia’s biggest brand,” he said.
“Or do you want to build your own little gig and compete with 40 to 50 people?”
Mr Rubinstein started TRG back in 2019 with just five employees and by the end of its first year that had grown to 16.
In his first year of business ownership, Mr Rubinstein also cemented his place as the number one selling principal in NSW and the ACT, based on commission, for the Ray White Group.
He was also awarded the Number One Principal Award Internationally and his office ranked number six in the office rankings across the premium markets.
At the time, Mr Rubinstein said he was proud of the agency’s swift growth.
“We started with five employees a year ago, now we have 16, and this is only the start,” he said.
Just before its second birthday, TRG saw all of its lead agents – Oliver Lavers, Cae Thomas, Evan Williams and Patrick Cosgrove – qualify as top Elite level performers with the Ray White Group.
TRG now has 30 team members.
In TRG’s 2020 cover story with Elite Agent, Mr Rubinstein foreshadowed even greater growth made possible by the group’s seven-day culture and a focus on hard work over entitlement.
“What I try to do here is encourage growth as much as possible, at the same time knowing no-one will ever outwork me or put in more energy,” he said at the time.
“I need to put in that effort every single day, to be in the trenches, to give it that sacrifice, because real estate, now more than ever, is about being on the spot.
“It’s not about last year or what you did yesterday, it’s about what you do tomorrow.”
Something tells us there’s going to be a lot of tomorrows for TRG.
