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Rylands Associates is an independent, privately owned Property Management company Essex intent on shaking up a sector that dynamically hasn’t changed much over time. We pride ourselves on our customer-centric, service oriented and transparent offering. Here at Rylands Associates, we are keen on distinguishing ourselves from the larger, branded national networks, which don’t always treat their customers as stakeholders. This is where we position ourselves in the market. For a flavour of our company – think of Rylands Associates as the Apple of the property management industry. We are young, fresh, forward thinking and innovative. And we’re just getting started.
Strategic Vision
Our strategy is simple – we want to innovate, improve and focus on the issues that matter to our lessees. We have long-established relationships with all of our contractors, who will always deal with emergencies swiftly, professionally and with minimal impact to residents.
The company was formed through Grant Cooper’s (Managing Director) vision to establish a Property Management firm based on complete transparency. The concept of transparency amongst all lessees is central to the Rylands’ company ethos and forms the basis to all our decision making. We encourage the involvement of all of our members to have a say in the running of their estate. After all, home is where the heart is. With transparency in mind, the Managing Director launched the business on the 22nd May 2012 and started trading as Rylands Associates on the 1st day of July in the same year. The business was initially launched with just Grant Cooper acting as Managing Director, with zero staff on the ground to support the launch.
Regardless of our achievements to date, Rylands’ still has a clear vision to be the largest and most respected, trusted and independent Property Management firm in the UK. As an independent firm, we have complete control over how we run our business and our impressive growth to date highlights the path we’re on is the right one.
New instructions
With a focus and commitment to frontier markets, we are currently able to grow our list of managed estates at a rate of 200% per month with a constant upward trajectory of new contracts. This includes the approaching completion of our second main acquisition in 12 months, which will add another 42 new developments to our portfolio.
Building management
Through a mixed blend of income streams, our growth to date has been exceptional and we really are starting to make a name for ourselves in an industry where mostly large national companies dominate the horizon. Grant Cooper launched the firm with private equity and since then, we proudly manage 29 sites across the South East of England and London, totalling 1,400 units.
With these 29 sites, our assets under management now total £120 million and this has exceeded our expectations after trading for only 6 months. We are now currently projected to reach Year 1 sales of £700,000, something we are extremely proud of in a short space of time and a more than difficult economic climate.
Our ever-growing portfolio consists of an assortment of buildings, ranging from smaller individual units to larger, well-populated blocks and estates. Regardless of the size of your property, Rylands Associates’ core ethos is to deliver a personal but professional approach, irrespective of size.
Our assets under management include a number of new developments, from small housing developments to large complexes containing several hundred units with different types of tenure. This also includes mixed use developments, private flats and houses owned by Housing Associations and Health Authorities, to sheltered accommodation and commercial units.
Approachability/leaseholder communications
We are passionate about Block & Estate Management and pride ourselves in our specialist skills. Our detailed and thorough procedures for day-to-day and longer term management enable our clients to own, occupy and sub-let their properties with confidence. As a result, we achieve a high level of leaseholder satisfaction. Our clients know that under our management their property is well maintained and will continue to provide a sound investment for the future.
Efficient handling of enquiries
After a promising launch by Grant Cooper and a successful first 6 months of trading, headcount at Rylands needed to augment drastically in order to meet the expectations of our lessees. We now have a valuable and diverse team of 11 Full Time Employees based in our main office in Southend-on-Sea. Our staff is what make Rylands stand out amongst the competition and we know that it's the little details that really count. That is why we offer extras such as a 24/7 emergency helpline by a dedicated Property Manager, to protect your property around the clock.
Customers' Accounts
As one of Rylands' core values, transparency allows us to distinguish ourselves from the competition and we make this one of our unique selling points. We offer 24 hour access via the Internet to a custom built website for each of our managed developments – which mirrors everything our staff would be able to see in our offices via our cloud-based Property
Management System. Nowadays customers expect to be able to access a wealth of information from any location, at any time. That is exactly what we provide, after all, it is 2013.
This idea started with a sense of conviction; that our industry could do better. Having spent their working lives in Block & Estate Management, the founders of Rylands Associates - Grant Cooper and Russell O' Connor felt that the crucial importance of transparency and human relationships was often being overlooked.
After we opened in 2012, we set out to create a supportive environment where Client Relationship Officers (CROs) are free to serve their clients as they see fit – without the distortion of sales targets, internal politics or bureaucracy. Today, as when the business started, our dedicated CROs are driven by one imperative: to create the best possible experience and solutions for Rylands' clients. These small differences about better serving and getting things right for our clients are the daily motivators for all employees.
Marketing of and innovation in property management
Our evidenced growth and success since July 2012 is unprecedented amongst other newcomers in the region and we feel this is due to a constant focus on one of our core values – customer centricity. This has pioneered Rylands as an innovative and service orientated firm, something which is hard to find with larger, branded national networks or organisations.
Putting the customer first is at the forefront of each decision we make at Rylands and we continually strive to remain in tune with trends and new technologies that streamline operations and enhance the service experience for our lessees. Which is why all staff at Rylands is equipped with their own iPad that links directly to our cloud-based Property Management System, the exact same system they would see at their desk in our office.
This not only allows our employees to remain in the loop, in real-time, in any location. But it also allows our team to bring their iPads to site so we can easily refer to our lessees' accounts and update information on the go if necessary. Not only does this save time and make the Account Management process more efficient, but it also underpins our ethos about complete transparency for our customers. If a lessee wants to see their account information, we have it all to hand at the touch of a button. Honesty is the best policy.
Staff development
We are always trying to help our employees grow, develop and learn – which is why all of our staff are AIRPM accredited. In addition, in order to maintain and manage our reputation and our client’s expectations, Rylands Associates is the only Managing Agent that directly employs its own cleaning, gardening and maintenance staff. We have direct control of your estate, something which has been more than welcomed amongst our new lessees. This allows us to focus on the issues that matter and ensure your expectations and those of your estate are met each and every time.
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