An estate agent is asking rival businesses to band together amid concern that the entry of Tesco into the home-selling market could drive many smaller firms out of business. The Independent


Neil Patel, chief executive officer of OneMove, said: ‘The question on everyone's lips is whether Tesco's entrance into this already hyper-competitive market could kill off the industry for good. There is no magic answer to the situation, but in a collective working environment we can work together to maintain a healthy business.’

The warning follows last month’s launch of Tescopropertymarket.com, an internet-based service that has already attracted more than 250,000 visitors.

The chief pitch of the Tesco site is that home-sellers can do much of the work themselves in order to save money and estate agency partners that were previously involved have withdrawn from the scheme.