Foxtons Staff Faced Groping and Slurs at London Property Broker

Summary

---

Podcast Summary: In the City

Episode: Foxtons Staff Faced Groping and Slurs at London Property Broker
Date: February 26, 2025
Host(s): Francine Lacqua, Allegra Stratton
Guest: Damien Shepherd (Bloomberg Reporter, Residential Real Estate)

---

Episode Overview

This episode explores a months-long Bloomberg investigation into allegations of toxic workplace culture, specifically sexual harassment, racism, bullying, and antisemitism at Foxtons, a major London real estate agency. Reporter Damien Shepherd shares his findings and discusses what these revelations mean for Foxtons and the wider property industry, drawing connections with similar problems in prominent UK firms.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Background and Scope of the Investigation

• Contextualizing Broader Trends: The UK has seen multiple workplace scandals recently, including at McDonald’s, Lloyd’s of London, ODI Asset Management, and Savills.
  • "Figures from the Office for National Statistics show more than a quarter of sexual harassment cases take place in the workplace." (Allegra Stratton, 02:06)
• Initiation: The investigation began six months prior to the episode when Damien Shepherd was contacted by a source via LinkedIn, launching numerous interviews with current and former Foxtons staff.
  • "I got a message on LinkedIn from a source who said they had some information for me...They shared a series of concerning allegations about their time at Foxtons." (Damien Shepherd, 03:03)

2. Nature of Allegations

• Widespread Misconduct: Reports of groping, sexually explicit comments, bullying, antisemitism, racism, and drink driving, with senior management allegedly ignoring or enabling such behavior.
  • "A lot of themes have come up...sexual harassment, racism, bullying, antisemitism and general concerning workplace culture within the company." (Damien Shepherd, 03:26)
• Friday Meetings as a Focal Point: Weekly meetings fueled by alcohol became a hotspot for inappropriate behavior.
  • "Historically these meetings had booze laid out everywhere...often the starting point for incidents of sexual harassment." (Damien Shepherd, 03:41)

3. Industry-Wide Patterns

• Comparisons to Previous Scandals: Prior Bloomberg investigations, such as the one into Savills, showed similar patterns, indicating little industry-wide change.
  • "It looks like the industry's got a long way to go to shake off this reputation. At a time when it's promising to change." (Damien Shepherd, 05:11)

4. Reporting & Retaliation Mechanisms

• Challenges for Victims: Building trust to encourage young employees to speak was difficult; some faced professional retaliation.
• Management Response to Complaints: Inconsistencies in HR’s handling of grievances and, in some cases, outright dismissal or punishment for those reporting issues.
  • "People who've spoken out...have on some occasions seen their flow of leads reduced or cut off completely...eventually being dismissed." (Damien Shepherd, 08:29)

5. Workplace Culture & Leadership

• Culture of Reward and Excess: Leadership's emphasis on social events and driving up deal numbers fostered a party atmosphere.
  • "Foxtons is a fun place to work, it's a social place to work – that whole culture of the booze, the trips away...providing an environment for this type of behaviour." (Damien Shepherd, 09:50)
• Negative Impacts on Staff: Significant mental health toll, with some leaving the industry altogether.

6. Response from Foxtons & Leadership Changes

• CEO Guy Gittins: Steps made since his arrival in late 2022, including removing alcohol from meetings and introducing harassment training; however, problematic behaviors continued into late 2024.
  • "Guy Gittins has implemented some positive changes since coming in as boss. He has removed alcohol from the Friday meetings..." (Damien Shepherd, 11:52)
• Foxtons’ Official Response: The company claims to have proper policies and is concerned by the findings, but the investigation suggests gaps remain.

7. The Industry and Hope for Change

• Increasing Reports City-Wide: Parliamentary reports suggest the City may be “going backwards” on harassment and bullying—though higher reporting could reflect new legislation or emboldened victims.
• Desperation for Change: Whistleblowers hoped the investigation would spark reform.
  • "One of the big reasons why they came and met with the journalists, despite the nerves, was the fact that they wanted to be part of the process to get rid of this behavior." (Damien Shepherd, 13:15)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the prevalence of misconduct:
  “One of the most damning incidents...a woman in her early 20s...shadowing a male colleague and upon returning...he groped her breasts. She told a manager...The manager said, 'that’s just what he's like.'”
  — Damien Shepherd (10:50)
• On retaliation for reporting:
  "People who've spoken out about incidents...have seen their flow of leads reduced or cut off completely, eventually being put on performance targets and sometimes being dismissed."
  — Damien Shepherd (08:29)
• On the purpose of coming forward:
  “They wanted to be part of the process to get rid of this behavior and stop, you know, some very successful people leaving the industry but because of the behaviour that's happening against them.”
  — Damien Shepherd (13:15)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:51]—Intro to the topic and its broader context
• [02:22]—Summary of the allegations against Foxtons
• [02:58]—Start of interview with Damien Shepherd
• [03:41]—Details of Friday meeting culture and its consequences
• [04:38]—Industry track record and prior investigations
• [05:11]—Comparison to Savills case
• [05:35]—[05:54]—Difficulty in sourcing victim testimony and context on CEO Guy Gittins
• [06:57]—Alcohol use during meetings and subsequent changes
• [07:50]—Scope of misconduct across branches; mechanism of silencing whistleblowers
• [09:50]—[10:20]—Cultural drivers and impact on mental health
• [10:28]—[11:15]—Inconsistencies in disciplinary responses and concrete examples
• [11:36]—[11:52]—Foxtons’ response and implemented changes
• [12:29]—Wider City context and discussion of reporting increase
• [13:01]—Reflection on hopes for change

---

Conclusion

This episode delivers a sobering look at the persistence of toxic workplace culture at one of London’s best-known property firms, despite industry promises and leadership changes. The investigation exposes how problematic behaviors are enabled—and sometimes perpetuated—by company structures and cultural norms that are slow to change. However, there are early signs of attempted reform, and the willingness of whistleblowers to come forward signals hope for long overdue transformation.

---

Transcript

[Chase Business Advertiser]

Being a small business owner isn't just a career, it's a calling. Chase for Business knows how much heart and effort go into building something of your own. Manage all your business finances, from banking to payments to credit cards, all in one place with their digital tools. Plus access online resources designed to help your business thrive. Learn [e-mail] business chase for business make more of what's yours the Chase Mobile app is available for select mobile devices. Message and data rates. May apply. JP Morgan Chase Bank Naomi Member FDIC Copyright 2025 JPMorgan Chase & Co. Hiscock.

[Hiscox Insurance Advertiser]

Small Business Insurance Knows there is no business like your business across America, over 600,000 small businesses, from accountants and architects to photographers and yoga instructors, look to Hiscox Insurance for protection. Find flexible coverage that adapts to the needs of your small business with a fast, easy online', @hiscox.com that that's his there's no business like Small business. Hiscox Small Business Insurance okay, I have.

[Canva Advertiser]

30 seconds to explain Canva. That's impossible, but here's a glimpse. Canva can take your presentations to another level. With Canva Video, you can generate awesome videos with one prompt. Canva Docs lets you create stunning visual documents, reports, plans, whatever magic write can write in your voice. Using AI and Canva sheets make spreadsheets people will actually like. Canva lets you bring your big ideas to life as fast as you can think of them. Put imagination to [e-mail].

[Hiscox Insurance Advertiser]

Bloomberg Audio Studios.

[Damien Shepherd]

Podcasts Radio News.

[Francine Lacqua]

Allegations of toxic work culture have been making headlines in the UK recently. Think high profile institutions like McDonald's UK and Ireland, insurance exchange Lloyds of London, hedge fund ODI Asset Management and prestigious real estate firm Savills.

[Allegra Stratton]

In fact, figures from the Office for National Statistics show more than a quarter of sexual harassment cases take place in the workplace. This week on in the City, we're unpacking a Bloomberg investigation into allegations of workplace misconduct at the real estate agency.

[Francine Lacqua]

Foxton's current and former Foxen employees have told Bloomberg about groping, sexually explicit comments, offensive language and drink driving at work. They described senior staff who ignored inappropriate behavior or were complicit. We'll explore the implications for Foxton's as an institution and what it can tell us about the wider industry. I'm Francine Lacqua.

[Allegra Stratton]

And I'm Allegra Stratton.

[Francine Lacqua]

And with us in the studio, Damien shepherd, our reporter covering residential real estate. Damian, thank you so much for coming in. Now this is our big take. You spent months into the investigations. How did it actually start?

[Damien Shepherd]

Yes. I'll have to take you back about six months to the beginning of this one.

[Allegra Stratton]

It's a long one, Damien.

[Damien Shepherd]

I got a message on LinkedIn from a source who said they had some information for me. Curiously, I went and met them for a coffee and they shared a series of concerning allegations about their time at Foxton's. From there I embarked on a mission to meet with as many current and former Foxton's employees as possible to understand their experiences of working at one of London's biggest estate agencies.

[Allegra Stratton]

And.

[Damien Shepherd]

And concerningly, a lot of themes have come up throughout those conversations which have hinted at allegations of sexual harassment, racism, bullying, antisemitism and general concerning workplace culture within the company.

[Francine Lacqua]

What did you actually uncover?

[Damien Shepherd (continued reporting)]

So, according to my sources, one of the main environments for this type of behavior within Foxton's was their Friday meetings, where lots of people from different offices would gather in one central London office to have their deals read out to the rest of the company to see how their performance was. Now, my sources say that historically these meetings had booze laid out everywhere. People would be sipping on beers, wine throughout, and they would often be the starting point for incidents of sexual harassment and the other allegations we've spoken about in the story, my sources tell me. And again, these people who are making these allegations very young, fresh into the industry, and if they're at this Friday meeting, having their performance read out and then being subject to this type of behavior, then it feels very concerning for the future of the industry.

[Damien Shepherd]

The reason why, from an overarching point of view that's so concerning, is that the real estate industry has been known for having a slightly checkered reputation. Over the past decade there have been a few scandals. One of our own investigations a few years ago revealed some concerning workplace culture points at Savills plc, one of Foxton's big rivals in London. So there's a big overarching theme here that shows that all of this behaviour is not great for the industry and the people involved.

[Allegra Stratton]

So looking at that historic Bloomberg investigation with Savills, you don't think that seemed like the industry had learned anything?

[Damien Shepherd]

I think if you look at the investigation related to Foxton's, it seems like some of the themes within that Saville story are still being replicated. The Saville story was published a couple of years ago. This reporting refers to the time up until the end of last year. So from that point of view, it looks like the industry's got a long way to go to shake off this reputation. At A time when it's promising to change.

[Allegra Stratton]

How easy was it to get some of those younger victims to talk?

[Damien Shepherd]

It was certainly challenging. There needed to be a level of trust built from the word go. So a lot of these people I approached through LinkedIn, further down the investigation, people would speak to each other about the fact they'd spoken to me. And I would have some people get in touch with me too.

[Allegra Stratton]

Do they still work for Foxton's?

[Damien Shepherd]

So it's a mixture of former employees and current employees. Everyone I spoke to has worked there within the last four or five years. So this is all relatively recent. A big theme within the story is the fact that towards the end of 2022, a new CEO came in, Guy Gittins. He worked for the company, began his career there, in fact, in the 2000s. And he came back in while the company was struggling, underperforming compared to other companies in the sector. And he vowed to kind of bring back this old Foxton's culture from his time when he started at the company. So what that looks like is performance related trips and getting more branded Minis on the road too. I mean, one of the main things that sort of makes people realise what Foxton's is is the fact that they've seen their green Minis driving all over the capital. The share price has gone through the roof since he's come in. But a big theme of the story was drink driving. One source told me that they were in a crash while they worked there after one of their Friday meetings, where all this booze was historically laid out in the room.

[Allegra Stratton]

So what time of day is the Friday meeting?

[Damien Shepherd]

So we're talking afternoon time.

[Damien Shepherd (continued reporting)]

So people would be cracking open bottles of beer, sort of mid afternoon. My sources tell me one important thing to note is that Guy Gittins removed alcohol from these meetings in mid 2023, which is a step in the right direction for reducing the level of alcohol consumption, particularly surrounding the drink driving allegations in our report. But my sources tell me that instead people would just bring in their own booze or managers would tell them to go to the pub before work to have a few.

[Damien Shepherd]

And it's essentially leading to this drinking culture and drink driving culture continuing beyond that.

[Francine Lacqua]

So there are 50 offices, right, of Foxton's, 50 across London and the rest of the country. How widespread was this?

[Damien Shepherd]

I met with more than 20 current and former Foxton's employees. They were across over 12 branches. So pretty widespread. We're talking branches up in North London, central London, the outskirts of London too, at the beginning of the investigation, I wondered whether this was a central London issue. But as time went on and I spoke to more people, suddenly it became very apparent that this culture had spread and across the capital, essentially. And one of the most interesting sort of light bulb moments I had throughout this investigation was the distribution of leads. So my sources say that leads, which essentially mean the clients that a negotiator gets who wants to buy, sell, rent or let a property begin their life in the head office in West London, there's a lead scoring team there who, who can look at these leads and come to a conclusion as to how strong they are. From there, according to my sources, there is a communication between head office and branch managers about how strong the leads that are coming down to them are. Branch managers can then essentially control the flow of leads to their sales negotiators, lettings negotiators, therefore in some instances influencing their performance. Not now. What my reporting shows is that people who've spoken out about incidents that have happened to them, incidents that they've witnessed within the office and at company events, have on some occasions seen their flow of leads reduced or cut off completely, eventually being put on performance targets and sometimes being dismissed from the company. So all of this captures the way that, according to my sources, Foxton's allowing this behaviour to continue in a way that possibly removes people from the company that speak out.

[Allegra Stratton]

The people you've spoken to at length over the last six months, what do they feel is going on? What do they think is the kind of drive for this?

[Damien Shepherd]

A few sources said to me that Foxlands is a fun place to work, it's a social place to work. And that whole culture of the booze, the trips away, getting these deals over the line, no matter what, I think is essentially providing an environment for this type of behavior. And the people involved have described really poor periods of mental health, describing how they no longer want to continue in the industry, and they're looking at jobs totally outside of real estate.

[Francine Lacqua]

If the abuse goes unchecked, I imagine it perpetrates more. More of it. Do we know about any disciplinary action that they've taken?

[Damien Shepherd]

Yes. So we do understand that some of the people who the allegations are against are no longer at the company. Some of them still are. So it did feel within my reporting that there were sometimes inconsistencies with the way that complaints were handled. There were some points where HR seemed disinterested in some people's claims.

[Damien Shepherd (continued reporting)]

One of the most damning incidents that was shared to me by a source was A woman in her early 20s who was on her first shift at the company. She was out at a viewing with somebody. She was shadowing a male colleague and upon returning to the office on the walk from the car park, he groped her breasts. She told a manager a few months later. And the manager said, that's just what he's like.

[Allegra Stratton]

What's interesting to me is it's not like we haven't had instances, zeitgeist shifting incidences of this in other sectors. But it seems to have passed Foxton's by that they don't seem to have looked at what's happened in Hollywood or what's happened in Westminster and think we should make sure that our structures and our standards and our procedures are watertight.

[Francine Lacqua]

Damien, what's been the Foxton response to your reporting?

[Damien Shepherd (continued reporting)]

Foxtons have said they're very concerned about the contents of our investigation, but they have insisted that they have the correct policies in place for people to come forward if they do experience this type.

[Damien Shepherd]

Of behavior within the office. Now, I would point out that the CEO, Guy Gittins, has implemented some positive changes since coming in as boss. He has removed alcohol from the Friday meetings before the Christmas party. HR sent out some antisexual harassment training just before the event, which was the first time that had been done, I understand, over the past few years. So it seems like there are some attempts here from the new CEO to clean up some of this behaviour. But ultimately the investigation shows that right up until the end of last year, this stuff was still happening.

[Allegra Stratton]

There is some evidence that across the city, more broadly, that there is an increase in certainly reporting of sexual harassment and bullying. And the Treasury Select Committee Chairman, Meg Hilliar, looked into it last year and their report suggested possibly the city was going backwards, in their report's words. But I think the question is whether it's a function of new legislation and reporting or whether actually, you know, people are now feeling emboldened to come forward.

[Francine Lacqua]

Do you think things will change after your investigation comes out?

[Damien Shepherd]

I'd like to think so. And there are early signs that Gittins is making improvements within the company. That has to be said. And the fact that in their response, they said that the things that they'd read in our report were concerning makes me hope that this could be the point of change. And the people that I met with said to me that that place is desperate for change. And one of the big reasons why they came and met with the journalists, despite the nerves, was the fact that they wanted to be part of the process to get rid of this behavior and stop, you know, some very successful people leaving the industry but because of the behaviour that's happening against them.

[Francine Lacqua]

Damien, thank you so much.

[Damien Shepherd (continued reporting)]

Thanks for having me.

[Francine Lacqua]

Thanks for listening to this week's in the City from Bloomberg. This episode was hosted by me, Francine Lacroix with Allegra Stratton. It was produced by Summer Saadi and Moses Andam with sound design by Blake Maples. Brendan Francis Newnham is our Executive Producer. Special thanks to Damien shepherd and Elisa McDonald. Please subscribe, rate and review wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Hiscox Insurance Advertiser]

How can you free your team from time consuming office tasks? Amazon Business empowers leaders to not only streamline purchasing, but better support their teams. Smart business buying tools enable buyers to find and purchase items fast so they can focus on strategy and growth. It's time to free up your teams and focus on your future. Learn more about the technology, insights and Support available at amazonbusiness.com@GSK we believe that.

[GSK Advertiser]

To get ahead of disease you need to understand its root cause. And that's why we combine our deep understanding of immune science with cutting edge technology.

[Canva Advertiser]

It helps us to create targeted therapies.

[GSK Advertiser]

That match the right treatment to the right patient, transforming the lives of millions. By uniting science, technology and talent, we we work tirelessly to get ahead of disease together. Visit gsk.com to discover more. As a contractor, I don't pay for materials I don't use, so why would I pay for stuff I don't need in my mobile plan? That's why the new My Biz Plan from Verizon Business is so perfect. Now I can choose exactly what I want and I only pay for what.

[Verizon Business Advertiser]

I need right now with my biz plan. Get our best price as low as $25 a line. Visit verizon.combusiness to get started today. New lines only. Price per month with five plus lines includes auto pay and paper free billing and promotional discount, taxes, fees, economic adjustment charge applicable. Add ons prices and terms apply. Guarantee applies to base monthly rate and stated discounts only. Add on prices. Additional offers in November 17, 2025.