The Headingly office of Leeds-based property developer, landlord, and lettings expert Pickard Properties is growing.
The company has a portfolio of more than 250 student and professional let properties all over the city, as well as a number of large property developments that are already happening or will happen soon.
In the past year, the business has changed its structure by creating specialised teams and launching a large digitalization project that makes it possible to work remotely from sites and properties. The extra space on the second floor of the building on North Lane will give the business much-needed extra capacity.
With an extra 1,800 square feet of space, Pickard Properties will be able to hire more people. It already has a team of 20 people, and in 2023 and 2024, it plans to add another 10 people.
The jobs will be in its customer relationship, maintenance, and accounting teams, as well as in its lettings hub, which works with both student and professional renters.
In addition to giving its teams more space to work in, the expansion will add new meeting rooms and places for people to hang out.
Miles Pickard, director of Pickard Properties, said: “The planned expansion of our head office demonstrates how the business has evolved and grown in recent years. We are a cornerstone of the student accommodation market, increasing our presence as a landlord and service provider, while also expanding our activities in the development of schemes in and around Leeds.
“This led to the need to restructure our business into dedicated teams to provide the best possible service to student and private tenants. We placed a huge focus on digitalisation to enable our staff to work effectively from our properties and sites. This was a huge project, which we completed during the pandemic and has given us the platform to focus on our physical infrastructure, which will not only provide a more comfortable and interesting working environment, but also the capacity to create more jobs to meet demand.”
One of Pickard Properties’ projects is Spinning Acres, a private rental development in Far Headingly that was built on a site that used to house student housing and has historical ties to the textile industry in the city.
It has also just put in a planning application to turn the old Weetwood police station in north-west Leeds into a new community with 127 build-to-rent apartments.