Sherry FitzGerald seem set to occupy centre stage for the next few months as its flotation plan unfolds. Other leading agents will be watching the action, though none of them seem likely to follow suit. Sherry FitzGerald will be hoping for a valuation of about £20 million on the company, slightly under half of the market capitalisation for its commercial partner, DTZ Debenham Tewson & Chinnocks. Despite rumours that Mark FitzGerald and his fellow directors are about to cash in their chips, nothing, it seems, could be further from the truth. The company plans to sell no more than a 25 per cent stake, while the shareholders are likely to settle for a bar between them. The extra money raised will be used to finance what some insiders describe as "terribly interesting developments".

We take it that this means more than simply opening yet another branch or two. Could it be that they are planning to set up a commercial management side and tap into the mountain of money which private investors are anxious to throw at the property investment market? They may also be thinking of investing in IT or even in providing insurance services.