IT support for estate agents, the North West
IT Support for Estate Agents Across the North West
For the multi-branch agency covering more than one town, where the head office needs every branch to work the same way and nobody wants five separate IT arrangements. That is what IT support for estate agents in the North West has to be built around. A person picks up when you ring, the email is protected, and the price is on the page: £55 a person a month.
IT support for estate and lettings agents from a Microsoft partner, independent. Reapit, Alto, Jupix, Dezrez and Street supported, with the Rightmove and Zoopla feeds. Twenty years securing systems in regulated sectors. Run to Cyber Essentials standards. Remote first, visits scheduled.
What makes IT support for a multi-branch North West agency different
An agency with branches across Merseyside, Cheshire and into Lancashire is really running one business and several accidental IT estates. Each branch was set up by whoever was there at the time, often years apart, and the differences accumulate quietly until somebody tries to change something everywhere at once and discovers it is five projects rather than one.
The fix is not glamorous and it is not fast, but it is finite: one Microsoft 365 tenant, one identity per person that works in any branch, files in one place, and the same security settings applied centrally rather than branch by branch. Once that exists, a new branch is a day's work instead of a month's, and a policy change is one change.
The security argument is the same one everywhere and it gets stronger with size. More branches means more inboxes handling money instructions, more negotiators joining and leaving, and more chances for one fake email to land in front of somebody new. Central control is how that stops being proportional to your branch count.
What IT support for estate agents covers
For a multi-branch agency the central controls come first, because everything else gets multiplied by your branch count. Sales, lettings, property management or all three.
Branches that work the same way
One Microsoft 365, one sign-in per person that works in any branch, files in one place and the same security settings applied centrally. After that a new branch is a day's work rather than a month's.
Email that stops the deposit redirection
Filtering that catches emails impersonating your negotiators, the solicitor or the landlord, and sign-in security so a stolen password cannot send one. The single most valuable control an agency can buy.
Access that ends when negotiators move on
Agents change firms often. Access to the CRM, the inbox and the shared drive ends the same day they do, before the applicant list walks out with them.
Somebody who knows agency software
Reapit, Alto, Jupix, Dezrez, Street. When the CRM will not push to Rightmove or Zoopla, or the branch phone line drops, you ring and a person picks up. Most fixes happen on your screen in minutes, and if it is the vendor's problem we ring the vendor.
Records that come back
Applicant data, tenancy files, AML records and the mailboxes backed up daily and tested by restoring something. A dead PC in the branch is an afternoon, not lost due diligence.
Evidence for the AML supervisor
A written record of the controls, run to Cyber Essentials standards, that answers HMRC's supervision visit and the insurer's questionnaire without a scramble.
The rules an agency is judged against
Estate and lettings agents are supervised for anti-money-laundering by HMRC, so client due diligence has to be kept and produced on request, and most of those records live in the CRM and the inbox. That makes the IT question and the compliance question the same question, with UK GDPR over the top of it.
It needs no compliance department: sign-in security on, backups tested, access that ends when people leave, and somebody able to write down what is in place when the supervisor asks. The longer version, including Propertymark and what insurers ask at renewal, is on the IT support for estate agents page.
Covering the North West
Merseyside and the Wirral, Cheshire and Warrington, Halton, Lancashire and the towns between them, with remote work as the default and visits scheduled when a job needs one.
A multi-branch agency across the region has branches in towns an IT provider would never visit often enough to be useful. Central control is what makes that fine: the same settings, the same sign-in and the same support reach every branch identically, whatever the postcode.
Nearly every fix is faster from a desk than from a van. When a job genuinely needs a person in the room, the visit is scheduled and it is in the quote. Estate agents, lettings agents and property managers, from a single branch to a dozen, and co-managed alongside your existing provider if you have one you want to keep.
What IT support for estate agents costs
No onboarding fee. No surprise on the invoice.
IT support for estate agents in the North West: the questions people ask first
Can you take on branches one at a time?
Yes, and it is the sensible way to do it. One branch first so everyone can see what it looks like, then the rest at whatever pace suits trading. Nobody moves five branches in a weekend.
Do we pay more because we have several offices?
No. It is £55 a person a month wherever that person sits, and the branches share one Microsoft 365, one set of controls and one number to ring. Servers or network kit in a branch are priced per box, only if they need looking after.
Head office wants one view of everything. Is that possible?
Yes, once there is one Microsoft 365 tenant behind it. Then reporting, security settings, licensing and who has access to what are all answerable centrally instead of branch by branch. The work is mostly in getting to one tenant; after that the view is close to free.
Different branches use different CRMs after acquisitions. What then?
You do not have to consolidate the CRMs to fix the IT. One identity per person, one place the files live and one set of security settings can sit underneath several CRMs perfectly well. Consolidating the CRM is a commercial decision about how you want to run the business, and it should not be forced on you by an IT project.
Who do branch managers ring, us or you?
Whichever you prefer, and it is worth deciding rather than letting it happen. Most multi-branch agencies have branches ring us directly for anything technical and keep head office for anything that costs money. We work to whatever rule you set, as long as there is one.
How much does IT support for an estate agency in the North West cost?
£55 a person a month, covering every machine that person uses. A branch of six is £330. A phone system or network kit is priced per box on top, only if it needs looking after, and you would know the whole number before agreeing to anything.
Do you ever come out to us?
Nearly everything is fixed remotely, usually the same day, because that is faster for you than waiting for a van. When a job genuinely needs somebody in the room, the visit is scheduled in advance and it is in the quote. There is no on-site response clock, and we would rather say so than sell you one we cannot keep.
Have a chat with Eric
Fifteen minutes with Eric. Bring the thing that annoyed you most this month.
That didn’t send. Ring 0151 452 3060 and you’ll get me directly, or email [email protected].
IT support for estate agents across the North West
This is the page for the North West. For the service in general, see IT support for estate agents. Or pick the area closest to you:
Liverpool Wirral Chester Cheshire Warrington Halton Lancashire
IT support for estate agents in the North West
Fixed price IT support for estate and lettings agents: a person who picks up, and the email controls that stop a deposit going to the wrong account. Ring and find out whether it is worth it; there is no obligation either way.