1 Year on and the results are there!

Broadwalk Property Management, launched in January last year, promoting a near paperless and transparent property management service promising to offer clients and tenants a service often found wanting in the industry. One would be excused in thinking we have heard it all before, however the award winning company have been adding substance to their claims by providing clients with significant savings.

One such saving is benefiting the residents and owners of Makinen House in Buckhurst Hill, Essex. Having taking over the management from a local agent in September 2012, the residents association were halfway through a tender process for redecoration works and structural drainage works. After years of neglect and damp problems left unresolved, the association employed an expert structural engineering firm to resolve the damp problem. The firm employed recommended and set out plans to install an internal drainage system in the basement corridor to channel the damp away from the property.

When Broadwalk took over the management, the original tender return was poor, so they immediately invited six new firms to join the tender process. Managing Director Daniel Hawkins recalls the first day on site, was taking these contractors around the site with the surveyors and structural engineer to go through the proposed works!

During this meeting one of the contractors raised concerns that echoed Daniel’s own thoughts that it appeared very little thought had gone through the actual cause of the damp and the recommendations set out appeared only move the problem elsewhere rather than solve it.

Having opened up the inspection pit dug previously, alarm bells began to ring when it was clear the water table level was approximately 30cm below the substantial damp proof course, yet the area of damp was at the other end of the property with the ground level being almost a metre higher. Daniel, using his vast experience and some common sense started questioning the structural engineer and was left unconvinced by the response and recommendations set out.

Daniel returned to site later in the week with a director of the residents association and raised his concerns with the works that would cost in excess of £70,000 and organised a full drain survey, despite being advised this had been carried out by the previous managing agents and no faults were found.

The following week Daniel was on site with Broadwalk’s drainage experts and went through the entire drainage system to discover an unprecedented level of damage and collapse. The extent of the damage was so severe that we identified 31 areas of collapse or damage.

In addition Daniel came face to face with a rat in the grounds and later found 5 burrows into the brickwork of the building around the same area of the reported damp problems.

Daniel was pleased to report back to the association that not only had the cause of water ingress has been discovered, but the majority of the problem was a valid insurance claim or more importantly could be a responsibility of the local water authority.

In October 2011 legislation was brought in that all shared water and sewerage drains on private land are to be adopted by the local authority and any repair should not be the responsibility of the freeholder. In this case, the main sewer and it appears the rainwater drain are shared with neighbouring properties.

Daniel is currently in meetings and discussions with with both insurers loss adjusters and Thames Water to remedy the problems. The clients are kept updated of the situation and they are pleased with the actions of Broadwalk,  one owner particularly pleased commented “It took you 2 weeks to solve a problem the previous managing agents could not solve in 5 years”

“I am very proud of this achievement it shows our fresh approach is already producing service charge savings in a commercial property we manage by 60% by simply cutting out unnecessary waste and this saving for the owners of Makinen House is an extra boost”.

Do you have a long term damp problem, or do not feel you receive a pro-active and cost saving friendly service, please email info@broadwalkpm.co.uk or phone 01277 20 42 96 for more information.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM BROADWALK PROPERTY MANAGEMENT LTD

After what has been an amazing year for Broadwalk, we are making fresh changes to the website, so please keep looking for these.

One is often questioned about the use of a home office for running a business, but when you present them with our paperless concept you tend to have answered that question already.

That said, this is not by any means out of the question and I can say that something is definitely in the pipeline in this and we shall keep you updated.

In the mean time, please take a look and see what we are doing. It doesn’t take that long for a baby to grow up.

Brentwood property management firm ‘Broadwalk’

 wins Britain’s Best Business Award – with a big thanks to networking!

Daniel Hawkins, owner of local leading property management firm Broadwalk, has been crowned as Britain’s Best SME Business in the National ‘Best of British Business Awards 2012

After working in the property management industry for ten years, Mr Hawkins founded his own business, Broadwalk in an attempt to change the reputation of the industry for the better.

Mr Hawkins’ aim was to offer a fully transparent service to tenants of commercial and residential premises, while charging cost-effective agent fees that were not reflected in the maintenance in the communal areas of the property, but applied on a fixed charged basis.  The uniqueness of the transparent service is the only known provider currently available in the UK.

Mr Hawkins, an active networker, comments on receiving the accolade: “We provide nothing less than the best possible service, and it’s really paying off! We provide a smart and premium service to our tenants and landlords, and they help us to win awards!”

“I am also a big networker, and regularly pass great business referrals to other members of the BNI Excelsior group in Chelmsford – it works on the philosophy ‘Givers Gain.

“Since March 2012 I’ve passed approximately 150 referrals to other business owners in the group, including one in excess of £120,000 and another in another group to a business owner who has benefited from receiving over 150 new potential contacts, increasing his turnover by approximately £1.5million per annum.

This Service and ethos has already seen us win the Gold award for Britain’s Best SME 2012 at the British Best Business Awards, something we are very proud of.”

The BNI Excelsior group has 41 forward-thinking business owners as members who join together each Tuesday morning from 6.30.am-8.30am.  Members pass referrals to each other, based on the philosophy – Givers Gain®.

Gill Tiney, BNI Area Director for Essex commented on the great news: “We love to hear about our members winning awards – so we’re delighted for Daniel.  Broadwalk’s success story is one of thousands we hear every year.  The BNI system works, and it’s really expanded since the start of the recession – which has caused the rise of the entrepreneur. 

“In Essex, there are 17 BNI groups that meet each week, amounting to 396 members. Collectively, in the last 12 months, members have passed the value of £1.4 million within the group. The opportunities are endless.”

How local businesses can get involved

The BNI Excelsior group meets every Tuesday at 6.30-8.30am at The Margaretting Suite, Ivy Hill Hotel to share business contacts and referrals amongst each other.

All local business owners are invited to come along to the group to experience the benefits of BNI and business referrals, for more information visit: http://www.bniessex.co.uk/find_a_group.html

About BNI & BNI South East

• BNI is the world’s most successful business networking organisation, providing a structured system for the development and exchange of qualified business referrals.

• BNI’s Founder and Chairman Dr. Ivan Misner is known as the ‘father of modern networking’, having created the world’s most successful referral organisation with over 6,200 groups in every populated continent of the world.

• BNI is a franchise and Robert French is the franchise owner and Executive Director for the South East, which covers Kent, Essex and Surrey – supporting growth of over 1300 businesses across 61 groups.  In Essex there are 17 BNI groups with an average of 26+ members in each.

• BNI brings together a group of local business professionals from all different industries, and provides them with a framework to generate referrals for each other.  It’s managed and run by its members, with a leadership team that changes every six months.

• BNI has been proven to work for over 26 years.  The philosophy is simple.  BNI limits each local group to one person only from each trade/profession.

• £35,000+ is the average value of business each member receives each year, through BNI.

Due to our recent success at the Britain’s Best Business Awards – Reporter Chris Richards from The Brentwood Gazette published an article about our success so far.

I am hugely proud of the award, this add some credence to the service we are offering and which our clients are already benefiting from.

If you are a commercial landlord who is looking to benefit more from your property or a resident in a block of flats or retirement home frustrated by your managing agents, please contact us for more information.

Broadwalk Property Management Winner – The Published by Brentwood Gazette

I am proud to announce Broadwalk Property Management have won the Gold Award for Best SME at the Britain’s Best Business awards 2012.

It is an amazing achievement to come so far in such a short space of time and I cannot thank the people involved and our clients who have put their trust in us. We were fortunate to be afforded the opportunity shortly after our official launch with 2 clients, both of whom I am indebted for their faith and trust placed in us.

A big thank you should also go to the tenants and residents we look after, who are pleased for what we are achieving and the service we are offering to them.

I am also indebted to the contractors, who have placed their expertise in an honest fashion and followed our ethos.

Finally, a special thanks to my business partners, family and friends and all those who have supported me.

Whilst we are still a young company – our ethos of fairness to all, plays an important part of how we wish to promote ourselves. It cannot be emphasised strongly enough how Landlords as well as their tenants, especially of commercial property benefit so much more from the service we offer and it is this all round service that has seen us win gold, like our successful Olympians.

This is the first step of many, on a journey promoting our push to modernise the property management industry and offer a refreshing outlook and simple, modern approach for the benefit of our clients.

We are actively seeking property to manage  in London and the south east of England.

Shortly we will be promoting our franchising opportunity for property managers whom believe in our ethos and wish for the opportunity to manage their own business. This process is being currently reviewed by our solicitors and we anticipate by January 2013 to start rolling out the first 25 in various areas of the south of England. More information on this and our expansion will follow.

Please if you have any further questions or would like a free expert Service Charge appraisal contact Daniel Hawkins at info@broadwalkpm.co.uk

Daniel was asked to talk to the good folks at the Brentwood Gazette last week, and attached is a PDF file containing a scan of the resulting article, where he outlines the inspiration and philosophy surrounding Broadwalk Property Management Limited.

You can download the article here, or read the text from it reproduced below.  A big thanks to Paul Ainsworth at the Brentwood Gazette for taking the time out to catch up with Daniel.

Company will be transparent

Property management firm ‘different’

A property management expert has launched his own company after becoming increasingly frustrated in an industry that he claims lacks transparency and where overcharging is rife.

Meet Daniel Hawkins, a man who labels his new venture, Broadwalk Property Management Ltd, the first in the UK to offer a fully transparent service to both landlords and their tenants.

Transactions

The father of one, who lives in The Broadwalk South, Brentwood, explained how through a new and unique approach, clients and their tenants could log on to the company’s very own cloud-based property management system to view service charge transactions and see every invoice.

He said: “The concept of property management is simple, just complicated and frustrated by an industry which at times overcharges, adds handling charges to work invoices, delays payments to contractors which lead to higher pricing and leaves landlords frustrated because their own requests are dealt with in an inefficient and usually time consuming manner.

“After talking to hundreds of block residents, directors of companies and landlords who use a managing agent, the usual complains that arose surrounded the financial side.  How they were not sure on where their service charge money was being spent, was it value for money and how charges increase without better service.

“Some were very critical of their managing agents and in one case, a managing agent not only overcharged a residential development for the simplest of tasks, they ignored important health and safety issues and, without authority, put the residents in a 20 year lift contract that was significantly more expensive than other competitors.”

He added: “There is also one building we have taken over where the management agent was just wasting money.  WE have saved the tenants over 50 per cent.”

The 35-year-old, who worked in the industry for ten years before launching his own business, said that through their cloud-based computer system clients and their tenants have 24/7 access to financial and business information.

He added: “Our bespoke system also allows for landlords and tenants to fault report and view relevant building documentation.

“This is especially useful for a conveyance of a new letting which a managing agent often charges around £300 for release of documentation and can take up to three weeks to supply.”

Visit broadwalkpm.co.uk or email info@broadwalkpm.co.uk.  You can also call Mr Hawkins on 01277 204296 or 07769 694047

A touching story from one of our associates, Hennie Wellman, can anybody help?

Planning process can be a daunting prospect, and we were excited to meet up with Keith Cunningham recently.  He’s a former Councillor who has served on Planning Committees as well as the Major Planning Development Committee – he’s now a planning consultant for Success in Planning, a niche planning consultancy.

In summary, these are the kinds of areas in which he can lend his expertise to assist you in all aspects of planning:

1. Experience – clients with no previous experience of the planning system – giving clear and straightforward advice to both residential and commercial clients on planning legislation and regulation.  Whether it be assistance with a full planning application or pre-planning advice.  This may entail a request for a pre-planning application.  Keith can also assist the client with choosing an architect and other allied building services if required.

2. Turnarounds – a specialist in representing clients who have received a notice of refusal for a proposed development or where the local authority is threatening enforcement proceedings.

3. Appeals – provision of dispassionate and impartial advice on appeals.  This would include an assessment of the likelihood of success, the likely cost and – if the client wishes to proceed – advice on which Counsel to retain.  If retained, Keith could issue written representations to the Planning Inspectorate on behalf of the client or assist Counsel at a full Public Inquiry.

4. Political Lobbying – Keith will undertake lobbying assignments on matters of planning policy with regard to local government and national government.

5. Local Intelligence – Provision of local intelligence to clients which may impact upon their planning application.

6. Policy Analysis – Undertaking of policy analysis on behalf of clients to maximise the chances of success.

7. Licensing and Highways Applications – Assistance with licensing applications and highways applications in addition to helping clients get planning planning permission.  This is particularly helpful to clients with restaurants, cafes or clubs where alcohol is ancillary to food.

8. Site Search – Assistance for clients who are needing to relocate or expand.  Getting the right site is crucial and it is important for the client to know whether they can achieve the planning use class they require on any given site.

For more information and contact details, please see Keith’s website.

Daniel met Jan Guy from Chelmsford CHESS recently at a National Landlords Association meeting – he was inspired by the work they do to put in to relieve the burden of homelessness and associated hardship in Chelmsford and Essex.

Rather than simply add a link to our partners page (which we’ve also done, of course), we thought it would be great to highlight their mission, values and aims here.  To find out more about Chelmsford CHESS please visit their website.

Our mission

Chelmsford CHESS seeks to relieve homelessness and related hardship and distress amongst single adults in Chelmsford and Essex, through the provision of support services and temporary accommodation that helps them move on in their lives.

Our values

• We care for the homeless and vulnerable; respecting their need for safety and dignity.
• We promote a sense of security, self worth and acceptance of the diversity of the individuals we serve.
• We encourage the growth and development of our staff and service users through partnerships and training opportunities with others.
• We are committed to equality of opportunity for all.
• We encourage responsible living standards from our service users.

Our aims

• To provide an adequate number of good standard accommodation for the single homeless.
• Encouraging service users to rejoin society as useful members.
• Supporting improvement in the health and well being of service users without discrimination or judgement.
• Giving practical help in achieving independent living and employment.
• Raising awareness of homelessness in Chelmsford and Essex.
• To become a catalyst for change and partnership recognising the resources of others.