Member Article

Property agent beats the credit crunch on the web

A Newcastle property agency is bucking the trend of nationwide decline in the housing industry by ensuring its online business is in peak condition.

Citypadz, which rents out upmarket city flats, apartments and houses, is beating the current slump with the help of Darlington-based Resilient Business Systems.

The property firm has found the rental market to be far more buoyant than the buying market and has done its utmost to ensure that it does not lose business at crucial times.

Ian Brown, director of Citypadz, said: “The downturn in the property sector and the scarcity of mortgage deals has actually turned many people to the rental market.

“As 95% of our business is done online we need to make sure our systems are efficient and reliable and that we have good back-up in order to capitalise upon this opportunity.”

RBS won the contract with Citypadz to install its IT systems when the agency set up in early 2007. It is now providing a 24/7 back-up support service in case of any IT hiccups.

Andrew Read, managing director of RBS, said: “It is essential for a company like Citypadz to be able to stay live and online at all times as any problems would severely disrupt their business and they would lose money. “The fact that we’re a small company means we’re able to react much faster to any problems or potential problems making us more agile in our response.”

Citypadz set up online to capitalise on the market of young professionals looking for city centre properties. The company estimates it saves half its total costs by operating online rather than from a shop front. This along with the slump in the housing market and the scarcity of mortgage deals has helped the company to thrive in recent months.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .