AWARdS Howard Cundey
win awards Howard Cundey has won the Courier Media Kent Property award for Multi-Office Estate Agency of the Year. Partner, Tim Foulkes, says, “This is a great achievement and says much about the company. But it is not really the ‘company’, it is everyone that makes up the company. As this award shows, our staff are simply the best.” The firm’s award-winning new
standard has also been reached through its excellent use of communication with buyers and sellers and between its own offices. “Superb inter-office communication is vital,” says Tim. “It increases the chances of sales success by bringing buyers and sellers together from across the region. In addition our marketing office in London does a marvellous job in promoting property that we are selling on a national and international basis”.
PORTALS
Zoopla.co.uk in the Top 10
Zoopla has been named as one of the Top 10 tech companies in the UK on
Guardian’s Tech Media Invest 100 list 2010, sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Kemp Little. The list showcases entrepreneurial companies developing innovative new ways to serve businesses and consumers and changing the shape of their industry. Zoopla has also been nominated for the Kemp Little Innovation Award, which will be revealed at the Tech Media Invest 2010 event on 18 October. Zoopla is the only property portal to be named in
LEGAL Investigation into collapsed agency
An investigation into the collapse of estate agency AMFS Properties Ltd., has taken a new twist. The
L-R Martin Cundey, Mike Hewson, Katerina Arnold, Karen Lang, Lisa Slann, Tim Foulkes & Steve Lowe
Social networking is another
important area of communication. Howard Cundey’s buyers across the UK being kept completely up to date with the local market through their website, estate agency software, Facebook and Twitter postings, all facilitated through Evolvin Ltd., and this has helped Howard Cundey become joint winners of the Courier Media Kent Property Award for Innovation. “Technology is important but
we never lose touch with our communities at a personal level,” Foulkes adds. “We have kept up local involvement with the community through appearances at local fetes, sponsorship of local events.”
local paper, Montrose review, has reported that a year ago, landlords and tenants received e-mails from AMFS Properties Ltd, based in Montrose, Scotland, informing them that the company had ceased trading and that another firm, Ivy Leaf Homes, had been asked to deal with the ongoing management of their rental properties. Neither email was signed but
they originated from John Grimes, the director of both companies. The agency’s collapse put many landlords in a difficult financial position and HMRC, seeking thousands of pounds, petitioned for liquidation earlier this year. While investigations by liquidators Carrington Dean and the National Federation of Property Professionals (NFOPP) have been based on the fact that Ivy Leaf Homes and AMFS Properties were completely separate legal entities, it seems that Mr Grimes has told the Financial Services Authority (FSA) that the companies are the same. The FSA register states that Ivy
Leaf Homes Ltd., was known as AMFS Properties Ltd., from February 28, 2007, to September 7, 2009 – eight days after AMFS
Properties Ltd., closed its doors. The NFOPP and Carrington
Dean say that they were not made aware of the information posted on the FSA register website. Meanwhile, most of the landlords and tenants who contacted the NFOPP to lodge a claim for their lost cash have now been paid. Case officer David Oliver said some £40,000 has now been paid out via its agent insurance scheme, but added that more claims are still coming in.
Over £40,000 in claims has already been paid out.
He said, “Hopefully we’re getting towards the end of settling claims. We keep getting calls though from people coming to the end of their tenancy and looking for their deposits back. They’re being directed here by Ivy Leaf Homes. About £40,000 has been paid out from the insurance policy so far. There’s maybe another few thousands of pounds to go yet.” However, the NFOPP’s insurance scheme is not available to landlords or tenants doing business through Ivy Leaf Homes, as Mr Grimes’ membership to the organisation remains suspended.
the Guardian’s top 100 and the only company on the list to have made both the top 10 and been nominated for the Kemp Little Innovation Award. Alex Chesterman, CEO of
Zoopla, said, “We’re delighted to have made it onto this well- regarded list and especially pleased to be listed in the top 10 as well as being nominated for an award. This is a reflection of our continued growth and innovation which has led us to become an increasingly important source of business for estate agents in the UK with more and more agents shifting a greater proportion of their marketing spend online and away from print.”
WEBSITES
New site – Propertypads!
A new website has been launched aimed at professionals in the property industry –
Propertypads.co.uk. The site brings together Solicitors, Conveyancers, Estate Agents and Letting Agents with a range of national and local providers of Property Searches, both personal and official, Energy Performance Certificates, Inventories and Gas Safety Certificates. Marketing manager Simon Godrich said, “One of the good things to come out of the introduction of HIPs was increased competition in the search market, bringing the first real reductions in search costs, in some instances the cost of a whole HIP was less than the client would have paid for the searches alone before HIPs.
“Since the suspension of
HIPs we felt it would be good to offer Solicitors and Conveyancers the chance to continue to benefit from those price reductions. We have signed up a range of local and national Search providers giving them the chance to offer their services to a wider audience at very competitive prices.” Clients can log in to
www.propertypads.co.uk and compare prices for a range of products including Conveyancing Searches, Energy Performance Certificates, Inventories and Gas Safety Certificates. Using a case tracking system, clients are able to monitor the progress of their order. To register email: marketing@
propertypads.co.uk www.propertypads.co.uk
PROPERTYdrum OCTOBER 2010 7
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