Principle wins new tender for property customer’s commercial portfolio

Principle's Danielle Lannon & Brett Williams

Principle Estate Management has been appointed to look after more than 50 commercial rented properties for an established Birmingham-based family property firm.

The contract, which includes collecting more than £600,000 of rents, comes just months after Principle won a contract to manage the same company’s residential portfolio.

The new work involves 54 commercial rented properties for 18 separate clients largely across the West Midlands in Birmingham, Halesowen, Lichfield, Rugby, Solihull, Sutton Coldfield and Walsall, and stretching north as far as Preston.

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Also included are four additional rented flats above shops which will be added to the residential portfolio, increasing that number to 69 rented units.

The properties will all to be managed by Danielle Lannon, a senior property manager at Principle, who recently completed her degree in Estate Management from Reading University, and is now studying to become a Chartered Surveyor with Principle’s support.

Brett Williams, managing director of Principle, will have overall responsibility for strategy and client liaison. He explained the properties were mostly single rented units, along with some service charges for multi-occupied buildings.

Mr Williams said: “It’s great to have won this tender for the company’s commercial property portfolio so soon after winning the contract to look after its residential properties.

“I’m really pleased with how the team has taken this complicated portfolio onboard, which is a further variation on a theme for us.

“Our strategic growth plan includes expanding into a full width property management service, not just the blocks of flats which we are known for, but portfolio management whether it be residential or commercial.

“We already have some commercial management for a few years, but it’s great to add these numbers.”

Principle will be collecting rents on the portfolio from 25 March, arranging insurance, overseeing all the landlord’s responsibilities, and ensuring tenant compliance with lease terms.

Mr Williams added: “We will also oversee re-letting, rent reviews and lease renewals. While not undertaking this work ourselves, we will be appointing appropriate consultants in each case.”

Mr Williams first met the second-generation owner of the business in the early 1990s when he was a graduate surveyor.

The identity of the company is not being disclosed, but its owner said: “We were already pleased with the high-quality work that Principle has shown on our residential portfolio.

“We then invited Principle to tender for the extra work and were really impressed with the way they approached this.”

Mr Williams, a Chartered Surveyor and past-chairman of the Association of Residential Managing Agents who has nearly 30 years of experience in the sector, launched Principle in 2018.

The firm has since grown from what was virtually a one-man band into what is now 31 staff looking after a portfolio approaching 6,500 units in around 250 developments across the UK.

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