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Hundreds of workers at estate agents across the º£½ÇÊÓƵ have been made redundant since LSL Property Services began restructuring its branch network.

A total of 460 people were made redundant as part of the group’s new high street strategy, while a further 440 members of staff were redeployed after their position was made redundant.

All in all 900 members of staff working at the group’s Your Move and Reeds Rains divisions were affected by the restructure.

Newcastle-headquartered LSL announced in February that it planned to drastically change its branch network by closing 124 of its sites while opening larger “keystone” branches. The keystone offices are being opened in areas were Reeds Rains and Your Move have nearby sites covering overlapping areas.

In LSL’s half-year results the company said its restructuring plans were progressing well and are ahead of schedule.

Speaking in the accounts, chief executive officer Ian Crabb said: “LSL announced the reshaping of its Your Move and Reeds Rains branch networks on February 5. We are pleased that the implementation of this programme has progressed in-line with our expectations despite the scale and complexity of the project.

“As a result, the revenue in the keystone branch network in H1 was slightly ahead of the LSL business plan. During Q1, the Your Move and Reeds Rains estate agency branch network was reshaped from 308 owned branches to 144 keystone branches following the closure and merging of 81 neighbouring branches into the keystone branch network, the franchising of 39 branches and the closure of 44 branches.”

According to details on LSL’s websites the company has closed 86 branches of Your Move since September 29 2018, and 47 branches of Reeds Rains since November 2018. The group announced its branch closure plans in February 2019.