McGrath's ex-chief Geoff Lucas to head up rival real estate shop The Agency

Former McGrath chief executive Geoff Lucas has joined rival real estate shop The Agency as group chief executive of the publically listed company.

The appointment was announced to the stock exchange on Tuesday morning a little more than six months after Mr Lucas stepped down as chief executive at McGrath Estate Agents following a fallout with the company’s founder John McGrath.

“We are pleased Geoff has agreed to join The Agency given his immense experience and success in the real estate sector,” said The Agency chairman Andrew Jensen.

Mr Lucas had two significant stints in senior executive roles at McGrath Estate Agents, the first as a former lieutenant to Mr McGrath that lasted eight years until he left in 2016.

Soon after Mr Lucas left he was followed out the door by McGrath’s then head of sales Matt Lahood and high-profile sales agents like Ben Collier, Steven Chen and Shad Hassan who joined rival real estate shop The Agency.

The exodus of agents kicked off a heated contest between the two ASX-listed real estate shops that was concentrated in the prestige property markets of Sydney’s eastern suburbs, lower north shore and inner west.

Mr Lucas returned to McGrath as chief executive in 2018 but left last August having returned the company to the black after a loss-making three years thanks to a 30 per cent rise in sales volumes and costs from the previous year fell away.

Mr Lucas was replaced by former ANZ global head of institutional property Edward Law.

“This team has demonstrated tremendous resilience and commitment during their formative stages. The business is now in a position of financial strength and is beginning to dominate market share in a number of key markets,” Mr Lucas said in a statement to the ASX.

“The opportunity to work again with Matt Lahood as real estate CEO, with whom I worked for eight years at McGrath, is particularly exciting given the success we shared in growing our people.”

Mr Lucas takes up the role from Monday, working closely alongside managing director Paul Niardone.

Agents at The Agency welcomed the news of Mr Lucas’s appointment given his long-time experience in the industry building culture and his reputation for capital raising and acquisitional growth.