Natalie Boardman, owner of Belvoir Tunbridge Wells, has successfully completed on the acquisition of the Lettings Company, adding 273 rental properties to her portfolio.

The Lettings Company, a neighbouring independent firm, has been operating since 1984, and the acquisition opportunity arose after the owners decided to retire.

Boardman said: “I had reached out to them some years ago to raise the issue of acquisition, but it was not the right time for the owners then. However, we remained on good terms and helped each other out a couple of times over the years, building up quite a good relationship. When the time came for the owners to retire, they already had a preference to sell to someone they knew would treat their landlords and staff well.”

The acquisition has added 73 fully managed properties and around 200 let only properties to Belvoir Tunbridge Wells’ portfolio.

“We have been very busy migrating to new systems and moving offices as we are relocating and rebranding the acquisition to Belvoir Tunbridge Wells,” Boardman explained.

Simon Reid, who worked at the Lettings Company, and has over 25 years of industry experience, is remaining with the company, which will provide consistency to landlords and tenants.

Until now we were an all-female office, so it’s nice to mix things up and have a man working with us – we are enjoying the banter, Boardman added.

She continued: “Life is very busy now, and of course there are always a few early teething problems, such as a software issue that was beyond our control but has now been sorted. As we transfer everything over to Belvoir’s systems this should make things more efficient for our clients.”

“Despite any stress that might have come with negotiating and completing the deal I am still on the lookout for new opportunities and remain on the Belvoir Assisted Acquisition Programme for that reason.”

“Acquisitions remain a major focus of The Belvoir Group business development strategy,” said Belvoir Group CEO Dorian Gonsalves. “Our Assisted Acquisition Programme has enabled many entrepreneurial franchisees like Natalie Boardman to increase market penetration of their existing territories. The programme facilitates a proactive approach to sourcing viable opportunities and enables franchisees within all of our brands to take advantage of consolidation within the sector. I wish Natalie every success with her business, which continues to go from strength to strength.”