When Ferndown Estates signed on as The Depositary’s first ever client in 2020, no one could have predicted what lay ahead. Just weeks later, the world changed with COVID-19, and so did the way letting agents managed their tenancies. Five years on, Ferndown’s MD Ian Crampton joined our co-founder Kristjan Byfield for a candid conversation about that journey—and why more letting agents across the UK need to embrace The Depositary now more than ever.

In a world where every high street looks the same and every agent promises “free valuations” and “professional photos,” it’s no wonder that estate and letting agents often blend into one beige blur. But in the latest Viking Chats podcast, industry disruptor Kristjan Byfield sat down with Tom Durrant of DCTR (formerly Dr. Photo) to deliver a clear message to the property industry: “Stop being boring!”

From complaints to compliance — uncover the real data shaping UK lettings this year.

Concluding tenancies is time-consuming, admin-heavy, and often where friction arises with tenants and landlords alike. And yet, it's one of the most critical moments in the tenancy lifecycle.

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The Viking Chats: Property, Technology and Entrepreneurship This week Kristjan is joined by the fantastic Vicky Bibiris from Location Location to discuss the importance of processes - create, track, measure, improve, repeat!

he Depositary, the only available automated end-of-tenancy platform, has joined forces with VeriSmart, one of the UK's leading property inspection suppliers.

In an industry driven by numbers, transactions, and ticking compliance boxes, the big question is: can property technology (PropTech) actually make estate agents more human?

It may sound counterintuitive—after all, tech is often seen as cold, automated, and impersonal. But in the first episode of a new conversation series exploring the evolving landscape of estate agency, I sat down with the brilliant Sian Metcalfe, Operations Director at Inventory Base, to challenge that assumption—and the result was a seriously rich discussion.

A new chat series where Kristjan talks with others in the industry about a wide range of topics. Being both an agent and a supplier means Kristjan is in a unique position with how he experiences the property industry, but there's always new ideas, opinions and stories to hear. In this video Siân and Kristjan discuss how PropTech can sometimes been seen as trying to replace the people behind the desks, and why they don't agree with that.

In case you've missed the deluge of people gushing about last week's Women in Estate Agency (WIEA) Conference on just about every social media platform, Kristjan thought he would add his thoughts on what was, yet again, an incredible event.

In an industry steeped in tradition, technology has become the driving force behind efficiency, transparency, and customer experience. Read the latest blog from co-founder Kristjan Byfield here.

The Depositary is thrilled to announce the renewal of our partnership with Leaders Romans Group (LRG) for another three years. Since the start of our collaboration in early 2022, we have helped LRG conclude over 40,000 tenancies, delivering an estimated saving of 100,000 hours of manual labour through our innovative automation and streamlining processes.

The Depositary is thrilled to announce that we have been ranked 5th in BusinessCloud’s highly anticipated PropTech 50 for 2024. This annual ranking highlights the most innovative startups, scaleups, and established firms creating technology for the UK’s real estate, construction, built environment, and building management sectors. The UK is home to over 900 proptech companies, many of which are located in London. The UK is a global hub for proptech companies and is leading the way in integrating sustainable initiatives into the sector.

Yup, you read that right- Bearded Baby Spice! If you're not already well aware, on Friday 12th July our industry gathered for the annual Agents Giving Summer Ball at the iconic Epsom Downs Racecourse. Agents Giving is our industry charity, it seeks to encourage, support and promote agents and their suppliers across the UK in their charitable endeavours. The Summer Ball is one of Agent's Giving key fundraising events- alongside a chosen charity which, this year, was The Trussel Trust who support over 1,200 food bank centres across the UK.