Flat-Living.co.uk Interview Flat-Living.co.uk
PM in the spot light
Interview Questions with
very best in property services. We are also broadening our appeal
Vicky Blair - Flat Living and
and delivering substantial new instructions from RMCs and
David Clark (DC) Mainstay
freeholder clients unhappy with their current arrangements.
Group Limited
The customer has always come first here, but balancing this with
effective service charge collection mechanisms is a constant
You are a well know figure
challenge – at present rigorous credit control remains our number
in the leasehold sector,
one priority.
being ex-chairman of ARMA
and now Managing Director
How does Mainstay plan to manage continuing growth in
of Mainstay Group Ltd.
the current economic climate?
How did you arrive here?
We spend a huge amount of time and effort on cost control, mid
Money persuaded me to move from a Housing Association to the
term strategy and diversification. We have successfully moved
private sector in 1985. I went to work for Gerry Fox at Fineman
into the student accommodation arena and this area is set to grow
Lever – an excellent introduction to the industry. I went on to work
substantially over the next few years. We also directly employ
for another guru, Michael Page, at Capital Property Management.
our site staff, concierges and cleaners and this has allowed us to
I ended up in the Midlands in 1996 to set up a residential
provide real FM services to external clients.
management department for James and Lister Lea (later Bruton
Knowles). Having built up a portfolio of 3,000 units I became a
Additionally our growing commercial management department
Partner in 2000, I moved on to Mainstay in 2003.
further assists us in widening our offering. Almost uniquely we
can deliver a full management program to complex mixed use
What is it about the leasehold industry that interests you?
developments and regeneration schemes.
I must admit that I am fascinated by the whole thing. We have a
We have a long history in portfolio management and see this aspect
captive customer who is dependant upon the services we provide
as important opportunity in our future with the increased emphasis
and yet the whole industry has been so adversarial historically.
on build to let and with few national providers of fully integrated
residential services.
Leasehold is virtually unique to England and Wales but it is cost
and service provision that are the main concerns of our customers
What was the best day in your property management life?
and this is universal. Things are changing fast and I like to think
that my involvement in both Mainstay and ARMA have allowed me
Undoubtedly working on ARMA’s education committee to launch
to develop the most proactive and customer focussed delivery.
the IRPM (Institute of Residential Property Management) and the
first portable qualifications for managers ranks highly. I still cannot
Regulation is long overdue in our industry and it concerns me that believe how well this has been embraced by the industry.
we see new unqualified players every week offering only one part
of the customer satisfaction equation – usually price! I believe that
As a salesman it’s winning huge instructions that remains my
such short term approaches to management are not sustainable and
biggest thrill, from the proposals to interviews through to the
quality will always out.
delivery. I have a fantastic team and nothing excites me more.

There have been some spectacular days recently.
How long have you been working with Mainstay Group
Limited ?
And the worst ?
I joined as Business Development Director in October 2003.
Where do I start? Like all managers there have been challenges

including the 3am Sunday morning call from a drunken resident
You are one of the largest independent managing agents,
who cannot get into his car parking space (I threatened to call the
how did Mainstay achieve such large growth?
police, incidentally). He called me because he had ascertained from
the phone book that I lived locally!
We did something no one else seemed to be doing. We marketed
directly to developers in the boom and told them what their
The storms of October 1987 must rank highly. I had a call from
customers wanted. They were almost universally receptive.
a leaseholder who said he was lying in bed looking at the stars
We went from around 7,000 units when I joined to 36,000 currently.
because his flat roof had just peeled off. Roofers were hard to come
Our pitch was based on service and not on purchasing the freehold
by that day.
– developers loved it and we quickly found 14 of the top 20
homebuilders sending us work.
I am sure I have blocked many other bad days out!

What are Mainstay’s plans for the future?
How do you spend your spare time?
We are concentrating on the quality of our service delivery and the
I like to try as much as possible in life but road cycling is my
maintenance of our existing instructions. We have recently joined
current passion and I cover up to 130 miles a week having indulged
‘Real Service’ and hope that this will allow us to benchmark the
myself with a titanium bike. Other than that my wonderful family
makes me sane, wine keeps me happy and skiing keeps me young.
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