How Rightmove became such a hot property

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Business Thinker

Deep dives on business and leadership

By Dougal Shaw

🔥 ‘Utterly obscene margins’: How Rightmove became such a hot property

The Telegraph has this interesting deep dive into the story of Rightmove, the UK property search portal that Rupert Murdoch is keen to buy (but was recently rebuffed). It speaks to founder Harry Hill, who founded the FTSE100 company “partly by accident”. A big motive for setting up the website in the early 2000s was to gain leverage over regional newspapers that were charging high rates to list properties in their newspapers, the best way to do it in the pre-internet era. The website was an immediate hit and Hill said at the time: “We seem to have caught a tiger by the tail here!” The rest is history.

🏠 ‘Rightmove is my porn’ – the addiction to online property search

Staying with Rightmove, this BBC piece has some interesting case studies showing what compels people to visit the Rightmove site. It’s not as straightforward as people simply looking to buy properties. For many, it’s a chance to fantasise or simply see how others decorate their homes. But all traffic can be monetised, eyeballs bring advertising revenue.

♪ TikTok and the live shopping revolution

It’s another trend that has slowly migrated from Asia to the West. Live shopping on apps like TikTok is generating huge sales for companies beloved by Gen Zers, but little-known to older people. Live shopping on satellite TV is often derided as naff. This version on social media has cachet and an air of exclusivity. Stockport-based beauty start-up P Louise recently broke TikTok UK’s record by generating more than $2m of sales in 12 hours. It sold products every second during its live stream, totalling 96,000 items.

Business Quote

Inspiration from leaders

“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.”

– Marcus Aurelius

Business Agenda

A summary of the most important business news

By Sarah Vizard

1. Channel 4 posted a loss of £52m last year after experiencing the biggest fall in ad revenues since the financial crash. Revenues at the broadcaster fell to £1bn, from £1.1bn in the prior year. It has already announced plans to cut jobs and costs as it shifts focus to its digital offering. You can read more here.

2. The UK ad watchdog is cracking down on ad campaigns by some of the UK’s biggest telecoms companies for misleading consumers about price rises during contracts. The Advertising Standards Authority has issued rulings against BT, EE, Plusnet, TalkTalk, O2 and Virgin Media after new guidance was added to the UK ad code saying that prominence must be given to important information about future price rises when customers sign up. You can read more here.

3. KPMG, Natwest and the law firm Addleshaw Goddard have resumed their membership of the Confederation of British Industry 18 months after the organisation lost the trust of membership amid a sexual harassment and assault scandal. The involvement of these companies signals a renewed confidence in the CBI’s restructuring efforts and attempts to restore its position as the “voice of business”. You can read more here.

4. The US government is considering whether to ask a judge to break up Google to prevent it. That maintains its “monopoly” in internet search. It comes after a court ruling in August found Google had maintained its dominance of online search through illegal practices. One remedy being considered by the Department of Justice would prevent Google from using products such as Chrome, Play and Android to benefit its search offering. You can read more here.

5. Shein’s UK sales increased by 38 per cent to £1.55bn last year, while pre-tax profit doubled to £24.4m. The company has become one of the world’s most valuable start-ups by focusing on high-volume, cheap fashion. It is currently awaiting regulatory approval in the UK and China to proceed with an IPO that could value it at £50bn, according to Bloomberg. You can read more here.

Business Question

Who am I?

• I started my business in the West Midlands
• The company was founded in 2000 but had an older legacy
• I am a co-CEO
• I’m one of the country’s richest people
• I was awarded a CBE in 2012
• My company employs over 7,500 and has over 90 million customers
• I’m betting that you think that business is a family affair

The answer can be found at the bottom of the page.

Business Leader

The best of our content

Why failure is key to greatness

As the temperatures subside and the autumnal hues take over, we can officially look back at the summer sporting extravaganza that was. Euro 2024 provided the highs and lows that we’ve come to expect from a major competition and the Paris Olympics and Paralympics provided an all-day sporting viewing treat for a whole month.

But the headlines and focus have moved on to the next. One of the abandoned talking points left behind from this shift is Gareth Southgate’s departure as England manager. Despite guiding the side to back-to-back Euro finals and World Cup knockout stages, many England fans were happy to see the back of the 54-year-old.

Does this point to a larger issue around expectations? Business Leader Expert Jake Humphrey says that it may: “Research by the University of Iowa found that people are more disappointed with silver than with bronze. The reason for this is psychological. If you win a bronze medal then your brain goes: ‘Oh wow, I almost didn’t win a medal at all. How cool, that I managed to get a bronze one.’

“Obviously, if you win gold, you’re delighted. But the most dissatisfied person on that podium is the silver medal winner. They are the person who thinks: ‘Oh, a little bit more and perhaps I could have got myself a gold medal.’ The reason why we need to reframe the way we talk about success in sport is not necessarily for the people who are competing now, but for the next generation.”

You can read the full article here.

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❗ Virgin Group’s CEO on why it’s important to be prepared to fail

And finally…

From Outliers to Talking to Strangers (which I personally listen to at least once a year), Malcom Gladwell has permeated the zeitgeist with his writing. Twenty-five years after The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell’s new book revisits the concept of epidemics and explores how we have learnt to manipulate the spread of ideas, viruses and trends with mixed results.

Revenge of the Tipping Point delves into topics such as Los Angeles’ bank robbery crisis, the concept of the magic third, the connection between big cats and teenage suicides and much more. The audiobook is also available to listen to on Spotify. It’s done in a beautifully creative way by including audio from his interviews for the book, along with recreations and actual news footage. I would highly recommend giving it a listen.

The answer to today’s Business Question is Denise Coates