Sheffield-based tenant referencing firm Vouch has been acquired by London proptech company Goodlord.
Vouch co-founders Simon and Jaime Tillyer will continue to run the Vouch platform from their Sheffield HQ, alongside their team of 15. They will retain their roles of Managing Director and Director of Operations, respectively, and also get a place on the Board of Goodlord.
Vouch Head of Technology Dan Hawkins will also continue in his role. However, fellow co-founders Kevin and Lynsey Gaskell will move on to focus on the separate family agency business Shefflets.
Vouch was founded in 2017 and offers a “fixed-cost hybrid referencing solution”.
The acquisition means London’s Goodlord will now have more than 2,000 combined clients and “have a wider choice of software offerings and access to a sector-leading end-to-end platform.”
Goodlord CEO William Reeve will be CEO of the combined group. The Vouch platform and the Goodlord platform will retain their separate brand identities and customers will “see service carry on as normal”.
“The two businesses will however work closely to develop a wider choice of services and provide interoperability between their two platforms, including the integration of their API,” Goodlord said.
Reeve said: “We’re delighted to have the Vouch team join our group. This marks an exciting moment for both businesses and for the UK lettings sector.
“Together, we have the best technology in the industry, the best track record on growth, and we expect to become the market leader by the end of the year.
“We’ve been working hard to give customers a wider range of services and this merger will fast forward that process by at least 12 months. Our businesses and approach to growth are incredibly complementary.
“Jaime and Simon have built an impressive business in a very short space of time and I’m looking forward to working with them and their team on the next step of our journey.”
Simon Tillyer added: “Vouch has grown rapidly since launching just over two and a half years ago. This merger is an exciting next step in our journey. “We have always looked to work with the best people in the market and this tie-up will allow us to offer customers a fantastic end-to-end solution alongside our award-winning referencing platform.
“Combining forces not only gives us access to the strong support of the Goodlord team, but also supports our rapid expansion and bolsters our combined efforts to become the biggest player in the space.
“Joining the Goodlord group is a fantastic fit both culturally and commercially and we are very excited about the future.”
