The key figure behind the Say No To Rightmove campaign says the fight for more realistic fees goes on – and agents are still joining the campaign hour by hour.

The portal caved in to pressure from agents a week ago and agreed a short-term 75 per cent fees reduction to help the industry through the Coronavirus crisis.

However Robert Sargent, chief executive of the Acorn Group, has today told industry analyst Chris Watkin in a video interview that the campaign now has 900 business owners with more still joining “on an hourly basis.”

Sargent’s company has 36 branches across London and the south east and spends close to £500,000 on fees to the portal.

He says the short term fees reduction was a sign that Rightmove realised the importance of agents who provided its content, but it was simply the portal realising what it had to do for an industry going into lockdown – it was not a solution to a longer term problem.

The core of the issue, says Sargent, is that independent agents pay top dollar – up to £3,000 per branch per month – whereas corporates can negotiate substantial economies of scale and thus smaller fees.

The interview is just under 10 minutes long and provides a fascinating insight into the campaign which has caught the imagination of much of the industry, and what it plans next.