Paul Rayden, CEO of County Estate Management and Solitaire Property Management

Q  CBG is now buying Peverel OM Ltd creating what some have termed a super-agent. Do you think that a so-called super-agent can sustain a good quality of service with such a large number of staff and clients?

A  Neither CEM nor Solitaire are involved in the acquisition of Peverel, however, in any event, I don’t think that “super-agent” is the right term to use. Property management is a service industry, and whatever your size, the key is to provide the appropriate standard of service to your clients and leaseholders. In order to do this, it is, in my view, crucial that the management and accounting teams providing the service are kept at realistic sizes so that each team leader can oversee their team and that in turn their team members are not overburdened in terms of the number of units they manage. By working to this model, you can ensure that, however large an agent may be, the client still receives a personalised service.

Q Is it tempting to increase a manager’s workload to keep overheads low?

A It may be tempting, but it is something we always seek to avoid. Occasionally it happens in the short-term, where we are asked to take on a building at very short notice. If a property manager, or indeed a client accountant or any other person in the company has an unrealistic amount of work to cover then service will suffer and we will lose instructions as complaints increase. In general, what’s good for the client is also good for the agent, and as in this instance, the converse is also true.

Q  Do you think the fees charged by property managers are relatively low when compared to solicitors, for instance?

A  It is often said that managing agents don’t charge enough, and by and large, that’s probably true, and it’s certainly true at the top end of the market where people are looking for a highly personalised service. We still have a long way to go to change the mindset that a low-cost service is the best option and ensure that people understand the depth and quality of our service.

Q  What has changed in property management during the past 20 years?

A  We are much more client focused. Here, for example, we have Marketing Director. His role is not just to market the company, but also to look at the type and quality of communication that we send out to leaseholders. We publish a bi-annual newsletter that provides news about the company and more light-hearted information, but it also provides interesting information and articles on practical issues effecting property owners, in a similar way to News on the Block albeit on a smaller scale. We want to engage with our leaseholders so they don’t think that we’re in any way a faceless organisation. We have also recently employed a Customer Services Manager to ensure that when we do receive complaints these are taken seriously and handled effectively. It also means that we can look at trends in complaints and use these to improve our service. Clients are taking the service that we provide seriously; we as people in the industry are taking it very seriously, which isn’t necessarily how it was in the past. It’s also important for everyone in our industry to really see themselves working in a full professional role; and if we do then our clients will view us in the same way and that will, in turn, result in them understanding the fee levels which need to be charged to provide the service. Leaseholders don’t always appreciate the amount of work that goes into successfully managing a property, much of which goes on behind the scenes.

Q  Should property managers be qualified, and would leaseholders appreciate an industry that’s regulated?

A  We encourage all our property managers to go through the Institute of Residential Property Management (IRPM), sit their exams and work through the qualifications they provide. We are totally committed to training our property managers and I think that I’m right in saying that we have the highest number of property managers of any company with IRPM qualifications. My view is that property managers should be qualified. In terms of regulation, there are varying degrees of possibilities for this, from soft to very highly regimented regulation and it’s difficult to assess exactly where property management should sit, but my opinion is that there should certainly be some form of regulation so leaseholders and landlords can have comfort that the company or individual managing their property has the relevant education, experience and ability to do so.

Q  What are the main concerns of your clients?

A  People want good service and value for money. A property manager collects leaseholders’ money and has a duty to spend it reasonably and sensibly. These are the minimum requirements. Leaseholders also want transparency, which is something our industry has reacted well to over recent years, although there is more work to be done on this. In simple terms, leaseholders want to know what’s going on at their property, what’s planned and how their money is being spent. They want this information in as simple a format as possible and at the same time don’t want to be overburdened with information. We try to communicate as regularly as we can with as many of our leaseholders as possible. We want them to know exactly who to contact.

Q  What are some of the problems clients phone about?

A  We try to get as much feedback from our clients as possible. There are always reactive maintenance problems; lifts or entry phone buzzers not working etc. - so we frequently hear about very simple problems. Social issues are more complicated to deal with, as are leaks from one flat to another. Most of the time people only contact their property manager when there is an issue they need to bring to their manager’s attention.

Q  What are your companies planning for the future?

A  From June we will be a HIPs provider, marketing the product mainly to properties under our management as an added service for our leaseholders. I suspect it will be easier for a leaseholder than a freeholder to get HIP information on their property assuming they have a managing agent to provide it. HIPs have not been brought in to inconvenience leaseholders specifically. If it’s going to inconvenience anyone then it’s property vendors in general since they’ll all be affected in the same way whether they’re leaseholders or freeholders. There is a lot of legislation going through about the environment relating to new buildings, so we are looking at similar issues for existing buildings and see ourselves very much at the forefront of this, as the environmentally conscious managing agent. It is our Green Vision and we are about to start running seminars within the company to help our staff understand how, in their personal lives, they can help improve the environment. We will also be looking at all buildings under our management and have developed a programme that will measure the carbon footprint of existing buildings. We will be able to provide each building with an Eco Rating along with recommendations to the client on how we can reduce the building’s carbon footprint. We will then cost out and implement the changes. In addition to this we will also be introducing “cleaner energy” into properties under our management. Our aim is to have all buildings under our management with a lower carbon footprint than the average for similar buildings across the country.

Q  Do employees enjoy working at CEM and Solitaire?

A  I certainly hope so, although you’d really need to ask them. We employ about 120 people at CEM and a similar number at Solitaire. We have invested heavily in human resources initiatives. We motivate people with bonus schemes as well as Team and Employee of the Quarter awards. We also have a formal appraisal system. We aim to support employees and to be seen as a company that people want to work for. My vision is of an exciting, caring place to work that people will seek out because they know it’s a great place to build a career, where people work well in their teams and feel a real commitment to the wider company. In addition to providing training for the IRPM exams which we discussed earlier, we’ve also obtained silver accreditation for training from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) for our accounts staff, and I believe we are the first managing agents to do so. This means we can provide our accounting staff with a great career path and excellent training possibilities. We also run a full range of management training courses to help managers deal with the management of their teams.

Q  What has been your most difficult work moment?

A  The hardest thing for me has been making the transition from a very small to a medium-size business, learning how to delegate and take on wider responsibilities, while at the same time keeping a close eye on the detail.

Q  What achievements are you most proud of?

A  Whenever we pick up a new management, particularly if it’s as a result of a recommendation from an existing management, I feel proud. It makes a difference to my day. We’re not about unit numbers, we’re about providing a good service, and if we’re doing that, and if we’re getting it right, then I’m proud.

Q What do you do outside of work?

A  I am married with four children and I’m on the board of the Hampstead Theatre, which is a new writing theatre in Swiss Cottage, London. I’m also a governor of a state primary school in London and play golf very occasionally to a poor standard.