Ascend Properties has acquired Rent Smart UK based in Manchester, just over a week after snapping up NW Estates in Warrington.

The company, which operates from offices in Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Wolverhampton and London, plans to treble in size over the next three years.

The agency, which has declared itself “open to acquisition opportunities”, wants to operate up to a total of ten estate and letting agency branches within three years.

The acquired Rent Smart UK business has 240 buy-to-let properties in its management portfolio and will retain its name and its staff, including director Melanie Hughes, who will continue to manage the office day to day alongside the Ascend management team.

Ged McPartlin, managing director of Ascend Properties, said: “We’re quickly acting on our ambitions to expand our sales, lettings and management reach across the North of England and we’d still love to hear from smaller independents that would be interested in a sale or a collaboration.

“As you can see, we don’t seek to simply sweep in and change everything and generally want to maintain existing brands and certainly the people and we want to work with businesses that are already well regarded in their areas. Ascend can then add our own expertise and significant resources and ‘super-charge’ these acquisitions to even greater success.”