Purplebricks Australia have confirmed that former McGrath agent Brent May has left the company. Mr May was with the fixed-fee agency for approximately 12 months.
A Purplebricks spokesperson confirmed to the Australian Financial Review that Mr May’s departure was by “mutual consent” with Kenny Bruce, Purplebricks co-founder and group sales director. The spokesperson went on to say the move would lead the Australian sales team “towards the next stage of our growth in Australia”.
A replacement has not yet been announced, but the move follows the recent appointment of Neil Tavender to the role of chief operating officer. Mr Tavender has a history of turning around real estate companies quickly, and it’s thought he was brought in to boost the outlook for Purplebricks in Australia.
Mr Tavender is a former sales director at UK-based listings portal Rightmove, before he worked as commercial property director at News Corp/REA Group’s propertyfinder.com.
“Neil Tavender has been appointed to the new position of group COO of Purplebricks to support the growth of the business. Neil has a wealth of real estate knowledge, combined with many years of Australian board-level sales, marketing and digital experience,” a spokesperson said.
Mr Tavender was granted share options worth approximately $2.5 million on his appointment.
