A fast-expanding PropTech business has opened a new office in London to serve a growing client base in the capital and across south-east England.
Symple, which was launched in May 2021, is an online platform for residential landlords, estate and letting agents and homeowners.
It manages property certificates for single and multiple sites, including ones for gas safety, electrical installation condition reports and residential energy performance, all of which are required by law.
The cloud-based platform is a one-stop shop which manages bookings for inspections and arranges for accredited and strictly vetted service providers – gas safety engineers, electricians and energy assessors – to carry them out.
Symple, which has its headquarters on the M60 Office Park in Swinton, Greater Manchester, began with just three staff and now has a team of 16.
Its ambitious growth plans include expanding its current portfolio of 3,000 properties to 10,000 by the end of 2022, as well as adding a raft of new services.
Symple has now opened an office in Hendon, north London, which is headed by product specialist David Schauder, who leads the innovation and development arm of the business. A recruitment drive in the capital for sales and other staff is currently underway.
Founder and chief executive Simon Dresdner said: “Our new office in London provides a strong platform from which to further accelerate growth in line with our business plan.
“Our client base in and around the capital is increasing in size, as is our pool of service providers who carry out the inspections. As we also expand our range of services, it is important to have a presence there.
“David has been with us since the launch and is playing a key role as we develop our offering, focusing on the functionality and development of our platform alongside bringing on board innovative services which will add value to our client base.”
Registration with Symple is free for landlords, agents and homeowners as well as service providers.
Its platform manages the entire renewal process for certifications, including sending reminders and arranging inspections with key holders and service providers.
The Symple portal enables clients to check the progress of each job. They are charged for each inspection.
Service providers have no need to raise invoices, as they are paid automatically. They are notified via email or text about available jobs in their locality and they can set the distance they are prepared to travel for each inspection.
Dresdner added: “Landlords, agents and homeowners who were convinced their systems worked perfectly have tried us, and have subsequently transferred entire portfolios to Symple. The platform eliminates the headache of getting their certificates completed on time.
“They simply have to register their property and provide us with the last expiry date, and the rest is taken care of.
“Service providers have seen that Symple offers a great opportunity to earn extra money at a time and location that suits their schedule.
“These features have enabled us to expand rapidly nationwide and, as we add more services, we see great potential for sustained growth for the business.”
Symple is part of Kingsbury Holdings, the parent company of several service providers in the property and facilities management sectors.
The Kingsbury group includes Merco Facilities Services, a commercial cleaning business, and FCS Management Services, a business rates management company.