Centrick launches Sheffield hub as expansion continues

Residential and commercial property specialist Centrick has launched a new regional office in South Yorkshire as its ambitious national expansion drive continues.

The company’s arrival in Sheffield city centre comes after it gained major new building and estate management contracts across the region. It has won new instructions on around 1,000 homes with a similar number coming under management later in the year.

The Birmingham-based business is investing more than £1 million this year as it recruits around 50 staff to deliver services from new regional offices in Sheffield and Gerrard’s Cross, as well as city hubs in Manchester, Portsmouth, and Nottingham.

More hubs at key locations are in the pipeline. Centrick’s building and estate management and build to rent teams will grow to more than 70 by the end of the year, handling a portfolio of over 350 developments comprising around 20,000 homes.

The new Sheffield office, located at Concourse Way, will be led by property specialist Sarah Parkyn, who was recently appointed as operations director of Centrick’s buildings and estate management division.

The award-winning, experienced property professional has more than 29 years’ experience in the industry. She has extensive knowledge of both the private and public sectors having worked for a local authority, social housing providers and in residential block management.

Sarah Hammond, building and estate management director, said: “We are enormously excited by our arrival in Sheffield. It is a fantastic city and offers us an excellent base from which to service our clients both in the city and across the region. We see Sheffield and Leeds as key areas for the development of our services. We already have clients in the region and we are working hard to expand our reach even further, with a new team led by Sarah Parkyn who has extensive knowledge of the area.”

Centrick chairman James Ackrill said: “The launch of our new office in Sheffield marks another milestone in our continued national expansion program. Our approach to growth at Centrick has always been cautious and considered. The concept behind our expansion has been to try and stay true to our values of building quality local teams with local knowledge and connections that benefit the buildings that we manage.

“Our Sheffield office will allow us to build a working environment closer to the buildings that we manage across the region. By doing this we can forge stronger working relationships both with our clients and our network of local contractors.”

He added: “This blend of hub and spoke offices allows us to continue to invest within key areas of our core team, such as building safety and compliance, whilst providing a local service, on a national level. As the number of homes we look after continues to grow we expect this scalable model to expand further to meet the requirements of our clients. The teams located throughout England have the benefit of a comprehensive infrastructure of technology, knowledge and expertise all designed to fulfil the vision of Centrick, ‘helping to make our customers’ lives better’.”

Group managing director Phil Johns said: “To ensure high quality property management, we feel there has to be local level property managers that can build strong relationships with supply chains and contractors. This allows best value for money delivery and better knowledge of local eco-climates, which is always top of the agenda for our customers.”