Rugby forwards reunited in property scrum

Richard Jones and Adam Lawrence

A Derbyshire property company has appointed a new director – and rebranded to mark the occasion.

Adam Lawrence has joined Investment Property Services, previously known as Ilkeston Property Services, as a director, alongside the firm’s founder, Richard Jones.

An Oxford graduate, Lawrence owns a multi-million pound property portfolio which includes The General Havelock pub in Ilkeston.

The pair met at a networking event in January 2016 but had spoken before as they are both members of a private mastermind group for property professionals, made up of some of the biggest buyers and traders of property in the UK.

Lawrence said: “I got on with Richard straight away. He told me about IPS and I told him about the pub. We found out that we have other things in common, such as rugby – we both used to play as forwards. We got together and talked about potential projects.”

Now, with their combined skill-set, as well as expanding their lettings business, the pair plan on conducting seminars on property education to help people get to grips with new legislation and tax changes that affect buy-to-let landlords.

IPS will also provide an education and deal sourcing arm to the business, in order to meet the needs of investors, and expand the business.

Lawrence said: “Management is always an issue for people that take property investment seriously. It frustrates me that, with property, the overall standard of education is dire. There are so many knowledgeable people out there that could do it properly and deliver real value. With recent changes in the law, landlords have had a number of things thrown at us, all at once.”

Jones, who owns a multi-million pound portfolio of investment properties, said: “I thought about selling IPS, but instead brought Adam in as a new business partner and rebranded from Ilkeston Property Services, to Investment Property Services.”

“Property investors love investing in properties because that’s the exciting part, but if there assets are managed poorly it just won’t work. We are good at the bit that most people don’t like to do, nobody else is teaching property management this way.

Lawrence added: “There is going to be an increased need for a skill-set like ours because of the changes in legislation and tax changes that have been made.

“It will also be a way of saying to people you’ve already bought one or two properties, here is how you get to ten and beyond.”

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