top of page
Member newsletter - February 2024
This newsletter is a short update on the outcomes of the meeting on February 9th between four committee members of the BGTA and The General (Bristol) Management Company Ltd – which is the Residential Management Company (RMC) for the site.
Firstly, it is great news that this meeting took place, with Simon Marner (Director of the RMC), Liam Kemp from City & Country and Toby Felton from Encore also present.
We have been asking for a long time to meet with the RMC and we see it as an important and positive step in the relationship between us. This is the most significant progress we have had in four years and will help us in working towards BGTA’s future ambition to have greater influence and input into the management of The General.
We know the setup of City & Country, Encore and the RMC is complicated, but it is important for leaseholders to understand it. We believe the existing arrangement is problematic and a key factor in how the estate is managed and our service fees spent. Therefore, before summarising the highlights from the meeting, we thought it would be helpful to set out the structure in a simplified diagram:
Key outcomes of the meeting:
· Progressing to our medium-term aim of having Resident Directors appointed in accordance with the RMC’s Articles of Association. This would give the Resident Directors some control and influence over what happens on the estate and the decisions made. Historically, all decisions have been made by the RMC, which has not had any Resident Directors to date. A ’test and learn’ approach was agreed as a way of transitioning from where we currently are to this medium-term objective. This involves the RMC working with 3-4 Resident Directors for a six-month period to work together on ‘transforming’ the estate. After the six-month trial, it will then hopefully be adopted as a permanent arrangement. To get the ball rolling, it was agreed that 3-4 BGTA committee members should attend the next RMC meeting in May.
· Recruitment of a building manager. This role should be based full-time on the estate, responsible for overall building management and overseeing the work of the concierge team. As you may know, it has sadly been vacant since last summer. After a couple of failed attempts to recruit, we have been told by Encore that recruitment is ongoing. We hope to see the role filled soon and will continue to push for it.
· BGTA residents’ poll. We agreed to share the results of the poll that we undertook with residents in early 2023 with the RMC, to ensure they clearly understand residents’ views on Encore’s current management of the estate. We understand that Encore is planning a further poll of its own, so watch this space.
bottom of page