© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
This month marks thirty years since Duncan Rendall and Matt Rittner founded their residential property management company, Rendall & Rittner. It has grown to become a market leading independent business, responsible for a growing portfolio that currently stands at 70,000 units. Despite the backdrop of current challenging circumstances, the business continues to develop and, with its network of regional offices across the UK, Rendall & Rittner is fast achieving its goal of becoming a truly national company.
Over the past three decades, the property management sector has expanded and evolved, as its requirements have become more complex and wider reaching, now encompassing diverse asset types including build to rent and retirement living. In an industry where the majority of businesses are small – 80% of ARMA (Association of Residential Managing Agents) member firms manage fewer than 4,000 units[1] - Duncan and Matt spotted a gap in the market to scale up a business that focused on delivering consistently outstanding levels of service to its clients and lessees, as well as striving to offer best value for money.
Duncan Rendall comments: “There was no guarantee that the business would be successful – Matt and I came from different backgrounds but we trusted each other and had similar outlook on things, which is one of the strengths of the business. We’ve always gone the extra mile to solve problems for clients and thirty years on, here we are.”
The results speak for themselves – last year Rendall & Rittner received client income in excess of £300M and its portfolio includes many of London’s largest and most prestigious new developments such as Royal Arsenal, Chelsea Waterfront, St George Wharf and Greenwich Millennium Village. The business has also focused on significant growth outside of London and manages some of the most notable developments including Beetham Tower and Leftbank in Manchester and Ocean Village Marina in Southampton.
The fundamental principle of the business from the outset was to take a people-centred approach to property management and invest heavily in staff. With 480 employees within head office and over 1,500 on site, they are the company’s most valuable asset and through a clear commitment to investing in training and trusting them to do their job, Rendall & Rittner has created a strong culture that values the contribution of individuals.
Matt Rittner comments: “We have employed some of the best people in the industry, we pay them well, and we have numerous staff benefits and excellent training. This has allowed us to develop a team with outstanding experience, we offer them excellent career progression within the company and in turn, we can guarantee the highest levels of service to our customers and stakeholders from staff at every level.”
Another key characteristic of the way the company operates is its innovative approach to solving any problems in its way. When Rendall & Rittner wanted to find a way to attract new talent to the business, it launched the first ever apprenticeship in Housing and Property Management through the Government’s Trailblazer scheme, alongside its thriving graduate programme. At the other end of the staffing spectrum, in order to give the hands-on senior management team more insight, the directors undertake regular ‘back to the floor’ days giving them give them first-hand experience of staff roles.
In recent years sustainability has risen up the agenda and Rendall & Rittner has embraced it in its widest sense. It has introduced many initiatives to promote greener living across its developments including an £11.5 million contract with Ecotricity, Britain’s greenest energy provider, to supply 100% renewable electricity to over 80% of its property portfolio. But it is also committed to the sustainability of its communities and has developed a market leading community engagement programme with a dedicated Community Engagement Manager creating tailored events to drive neighbourliness and fellow feeling within each individual community.
Duncan Rendall comments: “If anything, resident expectations are higher than ever so we are always looking at ways to add more value. Our Residents’ Club is an excellent example of how we are going above and beyond in our offering. It provides access to exclusive events such as West End theatre trips, but is also a way for people to socialise and build connections with their community, which is something that so many people value.”
As the business moves forward, investing in the latest technology will also be key to improving residents’ experience and enabling staff to do their jobs as well as they can. The company uses a comprehensive online resident portal to make communication and administration straightforward and efficient, providing transparent updates to the customer, for example, live data on maintenance requests. During lockdown technology has played an even more important role in the way staff have done their jobs.
Before the pandemic hit, Rendall & Rittner was on track to achieve its target of doubling turnover and profitability in the five years to 2020. And while the current global picture has shifted the benchmark for all businesses, Rendall & Rittner has undertaken huge amounts of work adapting to the new circumstances and is in a good place. Guided by the company’s clearly defined values and mindset and backed by a strong team, Duncan and Matt are confident that their experiences and successes of the past 30 years will allow the business to continue to develop and thrive.