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SORBET APPOINTS PROPERTY HEAVYWEIGHT S
orbet, which has developed a software platform that will save letting agents and property managers time on scheduling maintenance, handling issues and inspections, has appointed Michael Stoop, vice Chairman of the Property Ombudsman, as a non-executive Director. In his career, Michael was managing director of Winkworth and also headed up Xperience, the Legal & General franchising brand, for 22 years, which then sold to Martin & Co in 2014 (now known as the Property Franchise Group).
Brooke Williams, CEO of Sorbet, said:
“We are thrilled to have Michael on board. His track record in the property industry is unparalleled and having someone with such a high profile at such an early stage is a fantastic opportunity for Sorbet. We’re excited about working with Michael on growing the brand and with his help our customers will stay ahead of upcoming regulatory requirements.”
Michael Stoop said on his appointment: “Having remained active in the property market since leaving the Property Franchise Group in June 2017, I have watched with interest, the growth in the PropTech industry and how it is changing the landscape within the property industry. “I have been very impressed with the set up of Sorbet, their staff, values and aspirations. At this stage of my career, I only want to work with companies that can demonstrate a strategy that I absolutely believe in and most importantly, can make a real difference to the day-to-day lives of estate agents.
Michael added: “Sorbet simplifies the scheduling of all the remedial tasks that are required at the start, during and at the end of tenancy by connecting the agent, landlord and tenant throughout the whole process. I can almost liken it to Uber!
EMPTY PROPERTY RATES 2018-19 ARE AVOIDABLE T
housands of owners of empty commercial properties pay out millions of pounds every year on empty property
rates...money they could keep in their pockets! One specialist firm is encouraging property owners to take positive action with the new (2018/19) rates bills set to arrive anytime soon. “There is nothing more galling than
having to pay rates on a property that lies empty,” said a senior spokesperson at Crusader Empty Property Rates Avoidance (
www.crusader-epra.com). “It is a massive drain on resources, particularly given the current economic climate and the on-going struggle to find tenants for empty properties. “Therefore, it is imperative that
property owners discover just what can be done to keep the burden of empty property rates to an absolute minimum.”
Crusader offers rates saving schemes
that cover empty properties in England and Wales, providing bespoke solutions based on years of experience. “For anyone sitting on an empty property, there are solutions that can be put in place to avoid the payment of empty property rates,” added the spokesperson. “We have more than a
8
decade of experience in this complex field; a deep understanding of property rating legislation and how to reduce liability on empty properties.” By way of example, a property owner with an empty warehouse with annual rates payable of £148,000 could achieve an 88% annual saving. That equates to a weekly saving of £2,505. It isn’t just the large industrial units
that stand to benefit, smaller retail and office properties qualify too. “Annual savings upwards of 80% are
very common across all types of properties and that figure can rise as high as 93%,” said the spokesperson. “We have also recently introduced a fixed-fee scheme for any habitable empty property with a rateable value of £12,000 or less. “April is the time when new rates bills
arrive, so if you are a property owner paying empty property rates give the Crusader team a call to start the process and make significant, completely legal savings.”
The Crusader Empty Property Rates
Avoidance team can be contacted via:
enquiries@crusader-epra.com or by calling 01772 369166. Please see Crusader advertisement on the inside cover of this issue.
“I am excited to be joining Sorbet as a
Non Executive Director and getting involved at a relatively early stage of its development, I also look forward to being involved in growing the business over the coming months and years.” Brooke came up with the idea for Sorbet as he used to run his own property inspection company. He believed there had to be a better way for agents, landlords, tenants and contractors to communicate, and decided to do something about it. Sorbet’s software helps with
transparency, accuracy and audit trails for the rental market. Letting agents, landlords, tenants and contractors are able to raise, automate and monitor maintenance requests and jobs through the platform - allowing them to concentrate on doing what they do best, gaining new business! Brooke co-founded the company with former Director of Dezrez Richard Wilson, and has also recruited Kevin Hughes, the former Marketing and Finance Director and one of the founders of
Gocompare.com, as a non-executive Director. Visit:
www.sorbethq.com
SMART BUILDING TECHNOLOGY PILOT
ommercial property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) is pioneering the use of 4D Monitoring, a cutting-edge, low-cost, building monitoring system which optimizes plant efficiency, improves energy efficiency, and generally reduces property management costs. The initial twelve week pilot was carried out at 27 office buildings ranging in size from 600 sq.m to 5,000 sq.m and with properties constructed in the 1980’s through to newly built.
C
Although the aggregate cost of installation was just £2000 per building, the system was able to reduce chiller and boiler operation and AHU (air handling unit) operation by as much as a third. Furthermore, the initial results suggest that the 4D monitoring system could identify and deliver wider energy savings of 10-30% per property, thereby delivering a payback within six to 12 months. The cloud-based system installed at the sites saw nearly 400 sensors fitted to key plant equipment and 36 information processing centres created to produce easy-to-interrogate live data which enables the quick identification of faults, run time errors and energy wastage.
COMMERCIAL PROPERTY MONTHLY 2018
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