Member Article

Stratospheric growth for young Manchester agency

Award-winning estate and letting agent Ascend Properties is on a winning streak after securing the management of over 450 additional properties, since the start of 2016.

The young agency broke through their 1,000 managed units target just short of twelve months ago and now, with an increased management book of over 1,500 properties, Ascend is on track to hit its £1.5m turnover target before the year-end in October.

After opening a flagship branch on Deansgate, Manchester city centre in Q3 2016 and appointing ex Curtis and Bains director Ged McPartlin earlier this year, Ascend Properties has continued to flourish. Securing new managed units in Manchester, Stockport, Wakefield, Halifax, and further afield in Portsmouth, the agency has continued to develop its offering across the UK and now support a talented workforce of 22. Investing heavily in state-of-the-art systems, bolstering their service offering to clients, Ascend is continuing to grow at a rapid pace.

Ged McPartlin comments: “This year alone, we’ve transacted on more than £15.1 million worth of property on behalf of clients in Manchester. Sales instructions are up 300% and management instructions have gone through the roof – we’re well on track to hit our year end targets, a remarkable achievement for a business which has been trading less than two years.”

“We like to think we’ve broken the mould of a conventional agent. The rise in the number of managed units is in direct response to the way we do things. Our portfolio team act as asset managers which allows landlords and investors to have a total hands-off approach.”

It’s not just their unique management proposition that Ascend believe has helped them expand so rapidly. With the rise in the number of online agents, the market is competitive and many business have had to raise their game.

Ged continues: “Our way of working is very blended. We’re a traditional agency at heart, but we utilise the digital world to the best of our ability; we said goodbye to ‘postcard-in-a-window’ type of marketing a long time ago and have utilised the power of interactive touch screens in our windows, social media and a whole host of other channels to ensure our clients are well serviced.”

“In short, we embrace everything we have at our disposal, pay attention to detail and have the client at the heart of everything we do. We make sure we have the right team behind us who share our ethos and have an unquestionable amount of knowledge in our sector - this is the main reason we’ve achieved so much. There are many new agents, high street and online, working in a highly competitive market. Whilst discounted fees, marketing tactics and online systems may be attractive, they just can’t beat actual experience in the marketplace.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ascend Estates Ltd .