The UK’s fastest growing residential estate management company has made a major commitment to the city where it began just over two years ago.
Principle Estate Management has moved to stylish, boutique office space at 137 Newhall Street in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter.
The move is driven by the growth of Principle’s team from founder Brett Williams in 2018 to 24 currently.
Now in its third year, Principle Estate Management has tripled in size in the last 12 months, with the number of units it looks after rising from just under 2,000 to over 6,000. Staff numbers have risen from seven to 24 in little over a year.
The company offers a national property management service and its growing portfolio of properties now totals 6,208 units in over 200 developments spread across all nine English regions including London, plus several in Wales.
Principle Estate Management was launched in 2018 by managing director Brett Williams, the former head of residential property management at CPBigwood in Birmingham, and a past-chairman of ARMA.
The move to over 2,500 sq ft in Newhall Street is the company’s third move in just over two years.
Brett Williams said: “This is a major statement of our faith both in Principle Estate Management and in Birmingham as the city where we want to grow.
“We currently number 24 staff and our new offices have space for 34 desks, so this reflects the level of our ambition.”
He said that at a time when many businesses are re-evaluating their office space requirements, they had engaged with all staff to discuss how best they could service and support their growing client base in coming years.
“We have always been a 100% office based business, with no homeworkers, as one of our principal strengths is the teamwork we all share.
“We recognise there are times when working from home is required, particularly when ‘quiet time’ on a large or difficult project so we have sought to find a balance that everyone agrees can help us drive the business forward in the most efficient way both for staff and our clients.”
He said the commitment to a much larger space meant that social distancing guidance currently in place can be easily accommodated.
“The overall feeling is that the collaborative nature of property management is best undertake in an office environment as it allows for better working between and within teams, where we can know how busy each other is, especially those on the front line answering customer calls.”
He said the decision to remain close their original offices was an easy one as it meant no change for staff commuting, and the Jewellery Quarter is seen as a great area both for working and recruiting reasons.
“We have the benefits of being on the city fringe, with just a 10 minute walk to New Street Station, easily linking us to clients in London and the south east.”
Fellow Director, Joe Jobson said: “The office space has been configured to include a conference room with full audio-visual facilities, ideal for the “new normal” of fewer face-to-face client meetings, and has pods for quiet working and breakout spaces to allow for more informal group meetings and building teamwork.
“We wanted to invest in the accommodation and create a great space for our people to be happy working in. Happy people means great customer service, and 137 Newhall Street is a super platform for us to continue to build our business.”