NEWSbeat
SOFTWARE Acorn on Radar
Radar, the new enterprise-level front and back office software system, has been selected by Acorn
Estate Agents for its network of 15 branches in London, for both residential sales and lettings. Radar has been designed
specifically to meet the needs of front office staff including Sales and/or Lettings Negotiators, Administrators and Branch Managers, directly linking with CML’s back office client accounting software. Radar can accommodate either or both sales and lettings within one application and link the front office seamlessly to the back office, so front office users can now be multi-discipline in one system. Each client may have multiple relationships within an agency – possibly as an applicant,
COMMERCIAL
Walkie Talkie underway
Another super tower is underway in the City. In the last few weeks the first two
cranes were installed by Canary Wharf Group on the iconic 20 Fenchurch Street project in the City of London, dubbed the ‘Walkie Talkie.’ The cranes will be used for
lifting 6,000 tonnes of steel reinforcements, along with the concrete and other heavy equipment materials that will be built into the substructure of the building. These will construct the ‘core of the building’ – 37 storeys high to a maximum height of 525 feet. The skyscraper, supporting 3,000 jobs throughout the construction process, is being jointly developed by Land Securities and Canary Wharf Group, with Canary Wharf Group acting as the construction manager and is scheduled for completion in 2014. When complete, architect Rafael Vinoly’s building will provide top- quality office space, offering
6 SEPTEMBER 2011 PROPERTYdrum
vendor, landlord, tenant and supplier – now they are accessible under one contact record. Neil Louth, MD of Acorn says he was looking for a software solution that could cover their portfolio of clients from sales, lettings and back office client accounts through
one place which hampered our ability to manage the business. “When we fully understood
A fully integrated software system for all sections!
to block management, “We had been running separate software systems for each discipline, so we had been unable to build a database that allowed us to see all of our clients and property stock in
what Radar could do for us, we had no hesitation in rolling out the software across our 15 branches. Radar will provide real commercial benefits to the group; improved efficiency and customer contact management, and provide a massive improvement in management information to aid strategic decision making”. Al Chetwode, Commercial Director of CML Software said, “We are delighted that Acorn is rolling out the software across its residential and lettings functions. We designed Radar to fill a gap in the market – there was no integrated front and back office software available for agents offering sales and lettings that could also cope with the varied needs of client accounting and block management – until now.”
BLOCK MANAGEMENT
Guidance on fire safety
A new guide to fire safety in purpose built blocks of flats has been published,
which the Association of Residential Managing Agents (ARMA) hopes will bring some consistency to fire risk assessments in such buildings and help keep residents safe. Minimising fire risks to
residents in blocks of flats is all about prevention and protection, preventing fires from happening and protecting residents if they do. This is why an effective fire risk assessment of the communal areas is essential. Knowing how one should be carried out, who is competent to do it and what are the requirements that must be followed up on can often be confusing, so ARMA welcomes the publication of the first, and much needed, national guidance on fire safety for purpose built blocks of flats. By law, fire risk assessments must be carried out and a fire policy established in the communal areas of blocks of flats; two approaches that could reduce fires and help save lives. The responsibility for this falls on the party with ultimate control of the building’s management – the freeholder, landlord, Residents Management Company or Right To Manage Company. “The importance of this new
360° of unrivalled views. The building aims to target an expected tightening of supply of office space in central London in 2014. Cormac MacCrann, from
Canary Wharf Group says, “It is a very exciting moment for
us to see the first cranes climbing above the City of London. These are the first of six cranes which will appear on the City skyline and eventually transform the site into a London icon, topped by a spectacular sky garden.”
guidance cannot be overestimated,” says Peter Dening, Chairman of ARMA. “ARMA has pushed hard for national guidance on fire safety in purpose-built blocks and we hope this document will finally provide specific and practical advice. As an indication of the significance and demand for this guidance in the leasehold sector, ARMA recently devised a dedicated training course in anticipation of its publication – it sold out within days.” Fire Safety In Purpose Built
Blocks of Flats is free to download at
www.arma.org.uk
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