Jan Forster Estates enters administration with pre-pack sale to founder’s family

North East property management firm Jan Forster Estates entered administration on 11 December. Shortly after their appointment, joint administrators Andrew Little and Gillian Sayburn of Begbies Traynor completed a pre-packaged sale of the operating business to a new vehicle owned by Angela Dennison, the daughter of the company’s founder, allowing operations to continue while preserving the majority of jobs. The business will trade going forward as Dennison Property Services.

Jan Forster Estates had operated for approximately 20 years across four branches in Gosforth, High Heaton, and Tynemouth, providing residential sales, lettings, and property management services across the North East. The administrators said the company had come under increasing financial pressure in recent months amid subdued housing market activity and rising operating costs.

As part of the restructuring, the branch network will be consolidated into a single office in Gosforth, with the refocused business concentrating primarily on property management services rather than a full-service estate agency model.

While most employees transferred to the purchaser under the pre-pack sale, some redundancies were made as part of the consolidation, with support measures offered to affected staff.

Begbies Traynor said the pre-pack structure was selected to preserve value, maintain continuity for landlords and tenants, and secure the future of the core business in circumstances where a wider marketing process was not viable.