There’s been a lot of moving and shaking going on in some of the bigger estate agencies across the country lately and the latest to announce a change in personnel is Real Estate Alliance (REA).

The company, which has nearly 50 branches across the State, says it is “moving into a new phase of growth” and has announced the appointment of a new chief executive, Philip Farrell whose role will begin this week. Not that he’s entirely new; in fact he held the position of acting chief executive of the company for a period in 2011. He was a director of REA from 2005-2011 and most recently his role was that of business development manager. Prior to that, he spent 22 years as a partner with REA Brophy Farrell.

REA, which was set up over a decade ago, has seen a 25 per cent increase in size over the last two years and says it is planning to announce more new member firms over the coming months.

Farrell replaces Eimer O’Keeffe, who will continue to work with REA as marketing manager.

Another string to his bow is his membership of the board of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland representing the area of professional services. “The role of the chartered surveyor is fundamentally changing in Ireland today. This is due to the unprecedented times we find ourselves in”, he says.

REA says it has had “continued success” in securing large property services contracts from the primary lenders and insolvency practices in Ireland. “Real Estate Alliance is currently aggressively expanding and will be announcing further new members firms to our group over the coming weeks and months.”