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Principle Estate Management has won the contract to look after a development of ten luxury apartments in Solihull. The Pavilion in Knowle needed an agent who could quickly catch up on maintenance issues and was prepared to work closely with residents on planning future works. The Pavilions (Station Road) Management Company Ltd appointed Principle after being impressed by its enthusiastic and forward-thinking approach to customer service. A spokesman for the management company said: “After a through ten

Co-op Homes (part of the RHP Group) has become one of the first not-for-profit housing associations to use Fixflo, the market leading repairs and maintenance management software. This will help Co-op Homes maintain its high standards in housing management, offer increased efficiency and deliver a great customer experience.  Fixflo was launched in 2013 and has up until now worked exclusively with residential property managers, and this marks the first time that the company has partnered with a registered p

Principle Estate Management has recruited a new property assistant for its customer services department as the business continues to grow after 12 months of operations. Brett Williams launched Principle in Birmingham last year to provide a nationwide property management service and was quickly joined by directors Ian Smallman and Joe Jobson, with the business recruiting a total of 12 people in its first year. One of these recruits was Michelle Cox who joined as customer services manager earlier this year,

We are delighted to announce the winners from our 2019 Enfranchisement & Right to Manage Awards which were held at the Landmark London Hotel on 6th June 2019.    The ERMAs, which are now in our 11th year, brought together 300 people from across the industry to celebrate excellence and professionalism in the industry over the past year.   We would like to thank ALEP for all of their support on the event this year, and of course our judges and sponsors.    Congratulations to all of this year ’s winners, hig

Issue 101 of News on the Block has now been published. This issues includes some of the following articles:  ERMAS Winners Feature Special Women of Influence Feature  Rooftop gardens across London now cover more space than Hyde Park  Grenfell families hit out at ‘disrespect’  IRPM leasehold event of the year  Enfranchisement & Right to Manage Feature including:  Unravelling complexities of tax clearance  Fixing the right to manage  What is the impact of the Upper Tribunal’s recent Queen Court

What is an API anyway?   If you work in the PropTech industry, you may use the abbreviation ‘API’ dozens of times a day. If you work in PropMgt, then you will have increasingly overheard the term and may wonder what the tech geeks are talking about.   A straw poll that we conducted with property managers at a recent event demonstrated that none of those we asked knew what ‘API’ stood for and only a couple knew what one was. ‘Application Programming Interface’ isn’t all that catchy and much like the long

Juggling childcare with a busy workload is often such a problem parents struggle to find jobs that are flexible enough to fit their lifestyle.   According to research from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, as many as 54,000 women lost their jobs in 2016 due to maternity discrimination. And it discovered one in five mothers experienced harassment or negative comments related to pregnancy or flexible working.   It is why Daisy Chain, an online platform that connects parents with family friendly empl

Consider the following scenarios that routine occurrences for many women in the workplace. The male colleague, with whom she is equally well qualified, is selected to take the podium at a conference, or the lead on a major new client project, or a place on the panel for an industry debate. Professionally they are equals, so why isn’t she receiving the same opportunities? It is most unlikely that any of these situations is premeditated; in fact, they probably haven’t been given a second thought. And that,

Attracting and retaining talent is a significant challenge in property management that is replicated across the wider industry. A RICS report on a young leaders summit held at this year’s MIPIM commented: “The industry is currently struggling with a lack of new talent, as technological changes and new skills bring about business transformation. To attract people with emergent skills requires a change of mind and professional adaptation”.   In this context, the absolute necessity of nurturing a diverse i

Prestigious developers Montreaux Ltd, recently joined forces with Hire Fitness Ltd, to equip their inspiring residential spaces with leading gym equipment for health and fitness. Montreaux is a dedicated property development company, committed to bringing aesthetically outstanding but affordable, highly practical residential and mixed-used buildings to the UK.   Montreaux Ltd is an organisation that strives to stay ahead of the competition in everything they do by producing modern, forward-thinking proper

Block Recruit are delighted to announce they have recruited a new member to add to their team, Georgina Bebbington.  Georgina is joining BlockRecruit from an analytical, analysis role dealing with high volumes of data and resourcing, where having a keen eye for detail is key. She has also worked in an Estate Agency advising landlords and other customer focused roles which have equipped her with years of experience in delivering front line customer service.   “My passion is to be able to help people ach

One of Birmingham’s newest residential developments has leapt from 75% sold to Sold Out. The remaining ten apartments at Elevate Property Group’s Tennant Street Lofts development of 40 apartments off Broad Street have now all sold. Elevate sales and marketing director David Hofton said: “There has been a flurry of interest as potential buyers realised they risked missing the boat at Tennant Street Lofts. He added that the quality of finish and the high specification had clearly been a major factor in the