The determinants of business performance of estate agency in England and Wales

Purpose: This paper seeks to investigate the factors influencing the business performance of estate agency in England and Wales. Design/methodology/approach: The paper investigates the effect of housing market, company size and pricing policy on business performance in the estate agency sector in England and Wales. The analysis uses the survey data of Woolwich Cost of Moving Survey (a survey of transactions costs sponsored by the Woolwich/Barclays Bank) from 2003 to 2005 to test the hypothesis that the business performance of estate agency is affected by industry characteristics and firm factors. Findings: The empirical analysis indicates that the business performance of estate agency is subject to market environment volatility such as market uncertainty, housing market liquidity and house price changes. The firm factors such as firm size and the level of agency fee have no explanatory power in explaining business performance. The level of agency fee is positively associated with firm size, market environment and liquidity. Research limitations/implications: The research is limited to the data received and is based on a research project on transaction costs designed prior to this analysis. Originality/value: There is little other research that investigates the factors determining the business performance of estate agency, using consecutive data of three years across England and Wales. The findings are useful for practitioners and/or managers to allocate resources and adjust their business strategy to enhance business performance in the estate agency sector.

An analysis of passenger performance on stairs and upper deck slides during evacuation trials: a report from the VERRES project

This paper reports on research work undertaken for the European Commission funded study GMA2/2000/32039 Very Large Transport Aircraft (VLTA) Emergency Requirements Research Evacuation Study (VERRES). A particular focus of VERRES was on evacuation issues and several large-scale evacuation trials were conducted in the CRANFIELD simulator. This paper addresses part of the research undertaken for Work Package 3 by the University of Greenwich with a focus on the analysis of the data concerning passenger use of stairs and passenger exit hesitation time analysis for upper deck slides.

BSHM meetings: BMS History of Mathematics Splinter Group

Introduction to abstracts from papers given at BMS History of Mathematics Splinter Group, held 17 April 2007, in Swansea.

[BSHM meetings] Topics in the history of financial mathematics: early commerce to chaos in modern stock markets

This account provides an overview of the study day, entitled 'Topics in the History of Financial Mathematics: Early commerce to chaos in modern stock markets,' held by the British Society for the History of Mathematics jointly with Gresham College, at Gresham College, London on 25th April 2008. The series of talks explored the development of mathematics and mathematical techniques in a commercial and financial context.