A leading London estate agent has demanded an industry wide drive to boost diversity in the profession after a manager at Savills allegedly posted a racist tweet about England’s Euro final defeat.
Becky Fatemi, director of the Marylebone Rokstone luxury residential agency said the incident highlighted “discrimination and prejudice that exists across the property industry.”
She added: “Over my 25 years in the sector I have experienced racism and sexism first hand, and it still happens to me today on a regular basis.
“I run a very diverse team in prime central London and am starkly aware that there are few other estate agents operating in the area which can say the same.
“If we are to change the archaic property industry we must start at the very top tier, with the largest companies.
“Currently, the majority of the executive boards within the sector do not have anywhere near enough female representation nor people of colour.
“I am happy to work with other agents and lead a cross-company, industry-wide task force to start making change real within property.”
Savills has launched an investigation after the now-deleted comment was posted after England were beaten by Italy in a penalty shootout.
The staff member claims his Twitter account was hacked and the matter is “being referred to Greater Manchester Police”, according to Savills. The employee has been suspended from work.
