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Ringley Group, the operational real estate company specialising in residential and living management, has launched a new specialist Technical Property Management division.
Responding to the increasing burden of red tape for real estate owners, from the Fire Safety Act 2021 to the Building Safety Act 2022, the new team combines facilities management, compliance, fire safety and the Building Safety Act. It will be led by Ringley’s Karl Bradley MTPI (Member of The Property Institute) and MIWFM (Member of Institute of Workplace & Facilities Management), who has been with the firm since 2018.
Over the past few years, Ringley has introduced significant tools and services to support clients with on-site compliance in the wake of these new demands affecting block management. These new technology tools have been implemented across several areas: the management of thousands of fire door inspections; the introduction of robots to pre-price and handle the mass procurement of fire door remedial works; the centralisation of preventative plant maintenance; and the streamlining of required Building Safety Act inspections. Ringley’s experts have also advised residents across its 16,300 residential portfolio – and shared technical knowledge with the wider industry – around the changing landscape of building height measurements and classifications.
Bradley will grow the specialist facilities management team over the next 12 months to focus not only on Ringley’s managed commercial and residential portfolio but also to meet the needs of institutional clients, with the ambition of ramping up resource to allocate a technical officer to each operational site.
Each technical expert – where appropriate – will have responsibility for plant maintenance; planned preventive maintenance; scheduling fire door inspections and fire risk assessments; tendering and procuring communal fire door remedial works, and supporting clients to complete landlord certificates. Technical officers join the dedicated team each managed client receives, incorporating: an accountant, a legal officer, and a property manager.
The Technical Property Management division will also support building owners with new build warranty and developer claims. Additionally, the team will centralise the procurement and organise external wall fire review (EWS1) and fire risk appraisals of external wall construction (PAS9980) surveys.
Ringley has also doubled down on its focus on people amidst market changes. It achieved Investors in People Gold Accreditation in 2023, a prestigious milestone that recognises the business has the right policies in place to foster a strong and people-centric work environment.
Mary-Anne Bowring, Co-founder and Managing Director of Ringley Group, said: “This is a natural evolution for us, as we adapt to the ever-increasing burden of red tape for building owners. As the operating environment becomes more complex, specialisation is key to protect our clients and ensure their assets remain compliant and safe. With 67 per cent of UK residential property management employees stating their mental health was at risk from their work, according to The Property Institute last year, it is essential that experienced professionals bring their deep technical expertise to work alongside site teams as the nature of the operational demands becomes more nuanced – ensuring the right team members lead on handling issues that best suit their skillsets.”
Karl Bradley, Head of Technical Property Management at Ringley Group, said: “Delivering operational excellence for our clients means that we need to stay at the forefront of how the market is changing – but with this comes a growing need for specialist advice to stay on top of often complex new demands driven by legislation. I’m excited about the opportunity to scale our Technical Property Management department in the coming months as it solves a very real-world problem for real estate owners across the UK: putting our residents first while ensuring not only compliance with the client’s obligations but pre-empting material issues before they impact site safety.”
The announcement follows the appointment last month of economist Jennet Siebrits as Ringley Group’s new Head of Research. Strategic adviser and non-executive director Martin Samworth, CEO Richard Williams and founder Mary-Anne Bowring together oversee the company’s operations and set the strategic direction and implementation for future growth.
Over the past 12 months, Ringley has accelerated its growth as the industry’s leading full-service, vertically integrated property management company in the Living sector, growing its portfolio of assets under management to £12 billion.
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