|
RESI 2010
The conference, held at the Celtic Manor the venue the Ryder Cup, for industry leaders in the Property World approaches (16th and 17th September) and as always Adiuvio will be in attendance.
For full details see: http://resi.propertyweek.com/
Adiuvo also co-host an annual pre conference dinner on the Wednesday evening. Please contact us if you would like to attend.
Adiuvo were present at the recent ARLA conference with our stand being one of the most popular in the exhibitor zone
 Click for larger
In their preview section for the conference Agreement magazine, the specialist lettings industry publication, ran the following article on Adiuvo;
When the phone goes in the
middle of the night with a
frantic tenant on the end of it –
the water is pouring through her ceiling
or her flatmate is stuck in the lift – what
do you do?
Well, one solution you might consider
is not to take the call at all. And that is a
very real option if you use Adiuvo, a
unique call handling service that is
totally geared to giving a service to
managing agents. It not only provides
emergency telephone cover in the sort
of circumstances described but,
importantly, solutions.
Employing experienced property
managers and professionals, the service
can assess how urgent situations are, and
call on a network of trusted contractors
to solve problems.
Equally, it can also advise tenants
when the situation is not serious and can
wait until morning – or it can even guide
tenants through a little trouble-shooting
themselves.
The company was set up by two former
lettings and property managers, Julianne
Cott and Colin Stokes. Julianne worked
for Cluttons, while Colin had worked on
the block management side for Douglas
& Gordon and Kinleigh Folkard Hayward.
The pair saw a gap in the market and
set up their business, Adiuvo, three years
ago between Cork and Limerick in
Ireland. “The decision to locate there is
partly because Julianne is Irish, but also
because there were very good incentives
for businesses at that time to come to
Ireland,” says Stokes.
“In fact, with modern IT, it makes no
difference where we are, and I personally
spend a great deal of time in our London
office in Notting Hill.”
The business started by providing
services purely to the block management
sector and was recently named a finalist
in a Contractor of the Year awards
scheme in the block management sector.
“We began because we felt there was a
market for specialist out-of-hours call
handling,” says Stokes.
“Most companies then had either
their own people on call, contractors
answering the phone or answerphone
messages. Although their chosen
solution would (sometimes) get the job
done, it wasn’t with anywhere near the
same level of professionalism that people
expected, especially in emergency
circumstances.”
The service has grown enormously and
now looks after over 50,000 units, with
further expansion planned. “We now
have a service centre with state of the art
Siemens technology, 100 virtual phone
lines and 20 employees doing anything
from one shift a week,” says Stokes.
“Everyone has actual experience in the
industry and all receive additional
in-house training. We deal with all
incoming calls for our clients, review
the situation and if necessary send a
contractor (either from our client’s own
approved list or our own as required).
Premium
“The ‘if’ part is extremely important
because there is a premium on call-outs
when out of hours, and sometimes
residents need to be informed, politely
but firmly, that their circumstance does
not constitute an emergency and the
main office can deal with it the
following working day.
“We can do this because we know one
end of a lease from another and because
we have all done the job before.”
Indeed, some 20% of out-of-hours
callers are told their problems are not
emergencies. For example, their
electricity may not be working because
one of their appliances has tripped a
switch and we can talk them through
what to do.”
However, Adiuvo does deal with many
real emergencies. Stokes explains: “We
can provide value to landlords and
residents by preventing extra damage by
swift action.
“To date, we have been involved in the
sublime to the ridiculous: fires, floods,
people trapped in lifts, alarm issues,
faulty appliances, animal and human
waste in common parts (yes, really),
break-ins and so on.”
Last year the company introduced
in-hours services for the first time,
including simple message taking or
fully fledged maintenance lines.
“All these services are via our in-house
system and this has been especially
useful to smaller companies who need
or want to take on extra portfolios or
work, but are put off by the immediate
investment in staff required,” Stokes says.
“We can provide expert outsourced
services at up to 50% savings over directly
employed staff and our people are all
property experienced.
“This year, we hope to expand our outof-
hours service (we are currently
pitching for another 20,000 units),
spread the word about what we can do
for companies in hours, and also
introduce ViewCall.”
Viewcall is an out-of-hours
appointment booking service which
allows prospective tenants to immediately
book viewings even if they find a
property on the website at midnight.
The forthcoming ARLA conference is
the company’s first real launch into the
wider lettings market, and visitors to the
event can find out more about the
Adiuvo services there, whether you want
a message taking service during the
daytime, an emergency night-time
service or a full-blown maintenance line.
“There are other telephone handling
services, but the reason we differ is that
we only work within the property sector
and only employ property managers and
professionals,” says Stokes.
The company is always conscious that
it acts as an ambassador for its clients,
says Stokes. “We have our own in-house
specialist software, with client log-ins to
see live how we deal with their calls.”
Adiuvo, by the way, is a Latin word
meaning help, aid and assist. It is among
the exhibitors.
www.adiuvo.org.uk
ADIUVO Nominated for "Contractor of Year" at News on the Block Property Management Awards 2009
We are delighted to announce that Adiuvo have been chosen as one of only three finalists in the Contractor of the Year category at the Property Management Awards on December 7th 2009.
For more details follow the link below or read on....
http://www.newsontheblock.com/articles/Who_is_the_best_in_property_management
Who is the best in Property Management?
publication date: Nov 26, 2009
FINALISTS REVEALED FOR THE PROPERTY MANAGEMENT AWARDS 2009
The finalists in The Property Management Awards 2009 have been revealed and the winners will be announced at a glittering evening ceremony in Central London on 7th December 2009.
Awards for London and Regional managing agent and property manager of the year have been fiercely contested as has the award for Professional Services of the Year. Finalists in the category for Newcomer of the Year are also of interest as this award is restricted to those that are new to the industry either at a personal or corporate level. Also, the Award categories are not just designed for property managers but also those organisations that supply services to the industry such as Insurance companies and Contractors. These categories demonstrate the breadth in skills that the industry demands and the important influence third party agents play in ensuring services are delivered effectively. However, one award which is eagerly anticipated in particular is that of Porter of the Year. The porter, caretaker or concierge in a block of flats is often the unsung hero of the building who rarely receives public recognition for his or her daily efforts. All entries had to be supported by the managing agent, residents association or individual leaseholders.
The Property Management Awards is an industry showcase rewarding the best organisations from around the country and are sponsored by Deacon Insurance, SLC Solicitors and A1 Insurance.
Why News on the Block has introduced The Property Management Awards
News on the Block is the leading independent publication in the flat sector offering help and advice to leaseholders, landlords and their respective advisors. For many years we have been publishing articles about property management and we are respected for maintaining our independence when reporting about the competing interests within a building: those of landlords, managing agents and the flat owners themselves.
We noted that the property management industry is predominantly introspective, focussing on the problems, complexities and challenges caused by the leasehold system of property ownership. The Property Management Awards are unique in that they are the first and only industry event to celebrate the best the industry has to offer.
Frequently, managing agents and landlords have explained to us the difficulties they experience when trying to differentiate themselves from their less attractive competitors. Similarly, leaseholders have described how difficult it is for them to compare managing agents and landlords in the market place especially when there is no benchmark or independent source they can refer to see who is the best in the industry. Quality of service clearly arouses strong opinions. Many of our readers asked why we had not included an award for “Worst Property Manager of the Year”. Although we would probably be inundated with entries, ultimately it is more useful to focus on who gives better service. Also, this year and in future years we expect our readers to note with interest not just who makes the grade as a finalist, but also those that are absent.
The Property Management 2009 awards were introduced to recognise the excellence and professionalism of all specialists working in this industry both at an individual and company level. In this way, News on the Block intends the Property Management Awards to benefit all stakeholders in the industry. Judging from the fantastic support News on the Block has had for these Awards and the large number of highly-competitive entries we have received this balance has been achieved and the Awards have been warmly welcomed into the industry calendar.
Meet the Judges
All the entries were judged by a panel comprising Georgiana Hibberd, Associate Director, RICS Residential Professional Group, Bob Smytherman, Chairman, Federation of Private Residents Associations and Andrew Teacher, Media Manager for the British Property Federation. The Independent Judging Panel was carefully selected to include a representative from each of the stakeholder interests within a block of flats: the owner-lessees, landlords and managing agents.
The Property Management Awards 2009 Finalists:
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AWARD
FINALISTS: Brady Solicitors, Brethertons, Carlex, Harris & Associates, SLC Solicitors
LONDON PROPERTY MANAGEMENT COMPANY OF THE YEAR
FINALISTS: AMAX, Chainbow Crabtree, Granville
REGIONAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT COMPANY OF THE YEAR
FINALISTS: Encore, Mainstay, Regalty Estates, Sanders
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
FINALISTS: AMAX, CARLEX, CHC Land, Preside
PORTER OF THE YEAR
FINALISTS: Anthony Coker (Chainbow) Isy Barrett (Encore) Kevin Waite (Peverel) Pedro Louro (Mainstay), Patrick Opoku (Peverel), Red Houjabi (Chainbow)
BLOCK INSURER OF THE YEAR
FINALISTS: A1 Insurance, Deacon
CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR
FINALISTS: Adiuvo, Claibon, GOL Group
LONDON PROPERTY MANAGER OF THE YEAR
FINALISTS: Karen Mitchell (Peverel) Noella Morton (Allsop) Richard Carpenter (Peverel)
REGIONAL PROPERTY MANAGER OF THE YEAR
FINALISTS: Ellen Box (Peter May) Gillian Stanley (Mainstay) Gordon Ferguson (Encore) Karen Combellack (Curry and Partners) Maxine Fothergill (AMAX) | 
