Premium property brand Fine & Country has launched in Northern Ireland through a partnership with Fetherstons, a local estate agency with three offices and 22 staff. The brand, owned since 2024 by The Property Franchise Group, runs on a licence model that it describes as distinct from a traditional franchise.
Founded in 2011, Fetherstons covers residential sales, new homes, lettings and property management across Northern Ireland. The launch creates Fine & Country Northern Ireland, with Mike Fetherston as managing director and Geoff Thompson, Will Miscampbell and Jonathan Steen as partners and senior valuers, The Negotiator reported on 28 September 2026.
Fine & Country states that it trades from more than 300 sites worldwide, across 19 countries, a network of a size comparable to the larger property franchises recruiting in the UK. Until this announcement, Northern Ireland was not among its markets.
A licence model, not a franchise
Fine & Country does not present itself as a franchise. Its recruitment page describes a licence under which the member agency keeps control of its company, its team and its local strategy, while trading under the Fine & Country brand and using its marketing and presentation of premium homes.
That is the arrangement that lets an agency with a 15-year local name, such as Fetherstons, join the network without being rebuilt around it. The commercial terms of the Northern Ireland licence have not been published.
Part of the group behind Martin & Co
Fine & Country has belonged to The Property Franchise Group since the group announced the acquisition of The Guild and Fine & Country on 3 June 2024, for a total consideration of £20 million: £15 million in cash at completion and £5 million at the first anniversary.
The same group franchises the Martin & Co lettings and estate agency brand, one of whose franchisees announced the purchase of a third branch, in Basingstoke, on the same day as the Northern Ireland launch. Within the group, the two brands sit on different models: a franchise for Martin & Co, a licence for Fine & Country. What separates them in practice is the franchise agreement, which binds an operator to a system in a way a brand licence does not.
Buyers from outside Northern Ireland
Fetherstons reports interest from buyers relocating to Northern Ireland, including people returning to the region and purchasers from elsewhere. Mike Fetherston, managing director of Fine & Country Northern Ireland, said: “By combining our local expertise and relationships with Fine & Country’s national and international reach, we can showcase Northern Irish property to buyers who may not otherwise have considered the region.”
Nicky Stevenson, managing director of Fine & Country, said the team’s “established reputation, local knowledge and commitment to client service” made it a fit for the brand.
A separate jurisdiction
Northern Ireland is one of the UK’s three legal jurisdictions, with its own property and tenancy law. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025, which reformed private tenancies from 1 May 2026, applies in England, not in Northern Ireland, one of the divergences covered in UK franchise law: how England, Scotland and Northern Ireland differ.
What to watch after the launch
Neither Fine & Country nor Fetherstons has disclosed the length of the licence, the fees involved or whether the three offices will rebrand in full, leaving the benchmarks in what it costs to open a franchise in the UK as the nearest comparison available. The Negotiator’s report gives no date for signage changes.
The signals to watch are whether the brand adds further Northern Ireland licensees beyond the Fetherstons offices, and how The Property Franchise Group reports the contribution of its licence brands in its next results, where the Northern Ireland launch would first appear.
