UK property services network managing 1,200+ branches with cloud infrastructure modernization
Connells Group operates the UK's largest estate agency network with 1,200+ branches across 80+ brands, serving residential, commercial, and corporate real estate. The tech stack reveals a mid-migration pattern: heavy Azure/Microsoft adoption (DevOps, Fabric, SQL Server) alongside active Kubernetes and multi-cloud (AWS/GCP), with Terraform and Microsoft Fabric listed as actively adopting—indicating infrastructure-as-code and data warehouse consolidation efforts. Pain points cluster around incident resolution, downtime risk, and legacy SQL integration with cloud, matching an engineering team (10 roles) focused on observability, platform automation, and scaling a lean operations footprint.
Notable leadership hires: Economic Crime Director
Connells Group provides a full-spectrum property services platform spanning residential sales, lettings, mortgages, surveying, conveyancing, and commercial real estate across the UK. The business operates through 1,200+ branded branches and serves both B2C homebuyers/renters and B2B corporate clients with market data, asset management, and specialized services (Build to Rent, PRS, affordable housing, auctions). The group is part of Skipton Group, a major UK financial services provider. Operationally, Connells is transitioning from on-premise SQL Server infrastructure toward hybrid cloud with Azure as the primary platform, while building observability and automation layers to reduce manual incident response and operational risk.
Connells uses Azure as primary platform (DevOps, Resource Manager, Key Vault, AD, RBAC), alongside AWS and GCP. Docker and Kubernetes handle containerization; Terraform manages infrastructure-as-code.
Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, UK. Hiring is currently UK-based only.
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