Estate agency giant Countrywide has been told by its main shareholder to cut costs by closing branches and changing its management.

Shareholder Catalist Partners, which owns 10.5 per cent of Countrywide, is demanding the “bold steps”, and if they are not met it will “pursue all options available”, according to The Times.

Robin Paterson, the former co-owner and chief executive of Hamptons International, is among those running Catalist, and he warned Countrywide “time is of the essence”.

Countrywide has grown to be worth around £46m, has more than 60 high street agencies, including Hamptons International and Gascoigne-Pees, and employs about 10,000 people.

Like other estate agencies it faced difficult times when the housing market was essentially closed frozen lockdown, after a slowing in deals ahead of last year’s general election and competition from online rivals.

Catalist wants to consolidate Countrywide’s brands and branches to focus on key high streets and regional super-hubs, find ways to make money from the market data it holds, and release £300m from non-core businesses.

It has also demanded Countrywide to appoint a new chief executive from within the industry to oversee overhaul, a new chief operating officer with transformation experience and a chief marketing officer “to sell the brand and use it to drive the business”.

A spokesman for Countrywide told the Times: “We are in regular and constructive dialogue with all our main shareholders and will be updating the market in due course when we publish our half-year results.”