The Post House in Gloucester to be looked after by Principle

Principle was instructed to look after the properties in Phase I by Pier Management Ltd, the management arm of RG Capital Partners Ltd, who bought the freehold from development partners County to County Property Group and Elevate Property Group.

An issue quickly became apparent in that Phase II, a joint venture between County to County and Cape Homes, is an extension to the original building and was under separate management. After quick problem solving and communications, all parties agreed that Principle would also take over the management of Phase II.

Adam Jones, business integration manager at Principle, said: “We’re getting quite a reputation for taking properties into management as soon as freeholds transfer to investors or residents.

“In the case of The Post House, this was planned. As part of the client’s acquisition process, we undertook a site inspection for them using our site survey app, linked directly to our property management software, Qube PM.

“We therefore had some information about the development, which importantly included a good understanding of the general design, layout and what services are provided.

“We have a slick process for integrating new instructions, which is carefully tweaked where the handover takes place with immediate effect.

“The outgoing agent has to provide us with a lot of information, but we try to make this easy in these circumstances and initially only ask for essential information, with the remainder following in manageable stages.”

The Post House, which is the third former Royal Mail building that Principle has in management, is close to local shops, supermarkets, fast food outlets, retail parks, hospitality venues, parks and good schools.

Gloucester Cathedral and railway station are only around two miles away in the city centre, with the Kingsholm Stadium, home of Gloucester Rugby, just 1.5 miles away.

Daniel Harrison, managing director of Pier Group, said: “Principle’s management approach has always impressed us and we knew they would be able to handle the complexities of The Post House.

“What’s important to us is that we know our instructions really matter to Principle, as they share our high standards for property management.”

“We are pleased that Principle are able to help during this interim period of management as the freehold transferred in two stages. It makes sense to have the management all with one agent.”

Principle Estate Management was launched in 2018 by Brett Williams, a past-chairman of the Association of Residential Managing Agents, who has nearly 30 years of experience in the sector. The portfolio of properties the company manages has since grown to around 6,500 units in 250 developments across the UK.