L.J. Hooker
|
|
Template:Infobox CompanyL.J. Hooker is an Australian real estate franchise. The company slogan is "nobody does it better"™.
| Contents |
History
The company was established in 1928 by Sir Leslie Joseph Hooker in Maroubra, NSW. In 1935 he opened the first city office of L.J. Hooker at 12 O’Connell Street, Sydney. In 1936 the business expanded into Kensington, New South Wales, Kingsford, New South Wales and Randwick, New South Wales. By 1938 the company was in the position to purchase H.L. Cross & Co. and relocated to the heart of the city on the corner of Martin Place and Pitt Street. After the Depression and the Second World War, the company floated on the Australian Stock Exchange on 1 July 1947. L.J. Hooker Investment Corporation Limited was formed in 1958 to allow L. J. Hooker deal with a more diverse range of real estate areas including hotel and leisure, land and building trusts, pastoral holdings and housing and land subdivision. In 1980 the real estate division had spread across every state of Australia when they opened the first office in Perth, Western Australia. L.J. Hooker went through a period of upheaval for a time, and in January 1990, L.J. Hooker Limited was purchased by the Queensland based Suncorp Metway Limited.
In 1997 they opened offices in Hong Kong and Papua New Guinea.
In 1996 L.J. Hooker purchased the Challenge Realty Group in New Zealand and in 1998 they rebranded them literally overnight as L.J. Hooker. In 2003 L.J. Hooker purchased the real estate franchise group Olsen & Everson. In 2002 L.J. Hooker opened its first offices in Indonesia, and in 2004 L.J. Hooker opened offices in Mumbai, India and Shanghai, China.
In October 2004, Grahame Cooke stepped down as CEO and was replaced by Warren McCarthy. McCarthy was selected from within the existing L.J. Hooker network and in The Australian Financial Review, he stated that "It was important that the chief executive be an L.J. Hooker person. There is an inherent culture. It is very much a family and there is passing on of generations of knowledge in auctions, good property management and good referral systems."
Organisation
L.J. Hooker is a franchise operation. The real estate side of the business is done by franchise owners. The current CEO is Warren McCarthy and Alan Lambert is Director of Corporate Services & the Deputy Managing Director.
Hooker Corporation Limited is the holding company, and L.J. Hooker Limited is the trading entity. Hooker Corporation Limited's ACN is 003 890 444 and the ACN of L.J. Hooker Limited is 003 890 4553. L.J. Hooker has also established an independent incorporated legal practice trading as L.J. Hooker Conveyancing NSW which is a division of Summerslegal N.S.W Pty Ltd (ACN 106 910 838). L.J. Hooker Conveyancing is located in Sydney. In Western Australia they use L.J. Hooker Settlements to do their conveyancing.
Cystic Fibrosis
The company is a major sponsor of Cystic Fibrosis Australia, whose objective is to facilitate and promote the provision of care to all people affected by Cystic Fibrosis and ensure they have the best possible quality of life [1] (http://www.cysticfibrosisaustralia.org.au/aims.shtml). They have been supporting them since 1998, and they have has so far contributed more than $1 million in research funds to the organisation.
References
- Harley, Robert (October 7, 2004). One-stop shop key to future. Australian Financial Review.
External Links
- L.J. Hooker International site (http://www.ljhooker.com)
- L.J. Hooker Australia (http://www.ljhooker.com.au)
- L.J. Hooker New Zealand (http://www.ljhooker.co.nz)
- L.J. Hooker Indonesia (http://indonesia.ljhooker.com)
- L.J. Hooker Hong Kong (http://hongkong.ljhooker.com)
- L.J. Hooker China (http://china.ljhooker.com)