Day to day we have contact with lots of different people, on the telephone, via email and on social media. We thought that you may like to know more about some of the fantastic team members who work at our leasehold suppliers as well as put a face to the name. 

Introducing…

• Gareth Lomax, Director – Ardent Lift Consultancy
• Sarah Howe, Quality Assurance Manager – Future Group
• Paul Jepps, Director – Haines Watts Service Charge
• Sinead Duffy, Senior Client Relationship Manager – Residentsline
• Stephen Charnock, Senior Solicitor – Bishop & Sewell

Gareth Lomax, Director – Ardent Lift Consultancy

Gareth is the founder and owner of Ardent Lift Consultancy formed in early 2012, following Gareth’s determination to put his own mark on an established profession. Having worked from an apprentice through to commissioning engineer within the lift industry, Gareth felt his practical, hands on approach to the lift industry would couple well with his communication skills to help make him a knowledgeable, pragmatic and effective lift consultant. 

With the skills required to act as a conduit between the lift industry (and its many regulations) and the client (and their budgetary constraints), Ardent Lift Consultancy has proved to be a well-respected aid to many property managers, building owners and facility management teams.

Gareth’s honest and open approach has helped grow the business and during the first quarter of 2018 the business is moving into new offices (owned outright by the company) to aid with further growth of the business and with appointment of additional staff to continue to offer the high level of support enjoyed by their client base to date.

Whilst the business has grown and demands on time increase, Gareth still enjoys undertaking survey reports where his expertise helps identify key issues to address for future performance benefits. Specification writing, project management, witness testing are all roles Gareth performs within the business (aided by his team), as well as traffic design works for new buildings, with a variety of interesting and challenging projects in the pipeline for the forthcoming year.

Away from work Gareth is a keen Scuba diver and swam with an 8 metre Whale Shark in Australia for his 30th birthday. For his 40th birthday (during 2018) Gareth will be trekking the Himalayas and Everest region, after all, a man working in the lift industry should have a head for heights!

Sarah Howe, Quality Assurance Manager – Future Group

At the Future Group we are fully committed to ensuring all our systems meet and, in many cases, exceed industry standards. This not only means keeping health and safety practices and staff skill sets up to date but we are also working towards ISO9001:2105 with the help of quality assurance specialist Sarah Howe.

Sarah joined the group in September 2017, having worked with directors Jamie and Jordan in her previous role for an electrical contractor. With experience in both the health and safety compliance and quality assurance aspects of business operations, she is driving the Future Group towards ISO9001:2015 Quality Management Systems.

Says Sarah: “Ongoing compliance of all relevant systems is vital to the Group and our clients, demonstrating that all group employees follow a safe system of works. With effective quality management systems in place, employees’ performance and procedures are monitored to ensure non-conformances do not occur. Six processes have been identified and will be audited throughout the year, ensuring all employees have relevant training and are able to effectively follow company procedures”. 

Sarah is currently working with the group’s ISO Consultant to build a Quality System Manual and expects to have fully compliant QA in place by April 2018.

Paul Jepps, Director – Haines Watts Service Charge

Paul started his career in the accountancy profession straight from college where he gained his professional qualifications and a grounded all round knowledge of accounting and taxation. A few years into his career, Paul developed a strong interest in the property market and in particular homed in on service charge accounting where he soon went on to head up a dedicated team of service charge accountants.

Paul’s has managed to develop our client base from his knowledgeable reputation in the sector coupled with being very approachable and friendly. He has built numerous relationships with key people from many managing agents and landlords who trust and respect Paul’s commitment to delivering a first class service for all our clients. He is responsible for managing one of the largest portfolio’s of Haines Watts clients in the country.

In April 2017, Paul was deservedly promoted to the board of directors of Haines Watts Service Charge where he continues to demonstrate his strengths in business development. He has also been heavily involved in the merger of two regional teams creating one centre of excellence for service charge accounting at Haines Watts.

Paul says “My passion for service charge accounting drives me to succeed in all that I do and I always try to install my vision and knowledge into our team of accountants to allow us to continue to be the best in our field!! My 24 year career has had some challenging times along the way but overall it has been very enjoyable and rewarding, and I am committed to taking the business to the next level over the next 20+ years. 2017 was a standout year for me, receiving recognition by way of my promotion coupled with the birth of my first child. I am confident however that the future will be even better seeing more talent join the team enabling us to ensure the highest quality throughout everything we do which I’m sure will lead to further success stories for our business.”

Sinead Duffy, Senior Client Relationship Manager – Residentsline

Sinead joined Residentsline in 2015 after a working holiday in Australia. Prior to joining Residentsline Sinead had gained 7 years’ experience in the industry working at Towergate.

Sinead splits her time between New Business and Renewals at Residentsline, she likes to offer a point of support for any agent she deals with and will always offer a thorough approach to ensuring all of her clients receive timely quotes/renewals, with the best possible premium after having explored every possible avenue. Sinead will use all underwriting tools available to save her agents a job often offering competitive premiums with a full comparison meaning her agents approach her time and time again as its quick and easy.

Sinead is immensely proud that Residentsline have embraced her personality and skill set to allow her to gain personable and important relationships with her clients.

Sinead has been given lots of great opportunities at Residentsline to represent the company, having been given the chance to attend several industry events it has been an absolute pleasure over the last couple of years to actually meet many of our clients and develop real friendships with them. We do after all spend most of our week speaking with our agents so it’s great to see when they have triumphed with a personal best or got themselves a new puppy.

Sinead juggles working in insurance alongside performing in two bands – she is the front woman of a rock band and a bass player in an indie band – she has managed to meet a fair few of her favourite artists and can always be found at the front of a gig! When she isn’t working or gigging she is a proud cat mommy.

Stephen Charnock, Senior Solicitor – Bishop & Sewell

Stephen specialises in leasehold enfranchisement and has over twenty years’ experience in this complex area of law. He dealt with some of the very first claims when the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act was enacted in 1993 introducing new enfranchisement rights for leaseholders of residential flats.  He is a recognised expert and acted in a number of leading cases decided in the appellate courts and tribunals and in hundreds of cases before valuation tribunals.

Stephen acts for established landlords and a wide range of tenants be they owner occupiers, investors or developers, including those on the main London Estates, in contentious and non-contentious matters. His extensive experience in acting for landlords has given Stephen a valuable perspective when acting for tenants.

Stephen is a member of the First-tier Tribunal Leasehold Enfranchisement User Group helping to improve the management of the Tribunal’s enfranchisement caseload. As a member of the LinkedIn Leasehold Reform Group he comments on enfranchisement issues of the day. He is also a member of the Property Litigation Association.

Away from the office, Stephen is chauffeur, kit man and maths tutor to his teenage son.