Getting to know our client delivery team: Kirsten and Abigail

Tuesday 30th January 2018

Getting to know our client delivery team: Abigail

Over the last 12 months and following the arrival of our head of client delivery, Oliver Taylor, we have further strengthened our client delivery team.

Working closely with contractors, communities and developers, our client delivery team is at the heart of Preim. So we wanted to take this opportunity to introduce and get to know our two

newest team members who help everything to run smoothly, enabling client delivery to focus on providing exceptional customer service.

Abigail Morton and Kirsten O’Neill joined Preim in August and September 2017, since then they have been working closely with customer account managers Simon, Giuseppe, Amanda and Cameron.

Getting to know our client delivery team: Kirsten

First port-of-call for customer enquiries

“Abigail and I are the first port-of-call for enquiries coming into Preim – helping to either answer any questions or put people in touch with those who can help,” explained Kirsten.

“I work particularly closely with Simon and Amanda at Preim, assisting them with administrative jobs, meetings, enquires and more. They both manage a range of very different estates, which is a challenge I really enjoy. Simon looks after newer developments, like Tadpole Garden Village for example, which you can imagine

has very different requirements to an estate that is a regeneration project.”

Supporting residents’ meetings

Kirsten explained that central to her and Abigail’s role is supporting the account managers with residents’ meetings:

“The meetings are held annually, with invitations sent to shareholders of the Resident’s Management Company or Community Interest Company. They’re an opportunity for residents to voice any issues and discuss key topics, whether that’s electing a new director or asking for a parking enforcement vote.

“Preim’s account managers chair the meetings, help to answer queries and put in place any new ideas.”

Abigail added: “Kirsten and I will help take notes from the meetings and make sure all the points raised by residents and directors are attended to.”

Delivering exceptional customer service

After working in a number of customer-facing roles, whether that was in retail or face-to-face marketing, Kirsten joined Preim as assistant customer account manager after completing her degree at De Montfort University:

“My previous roles had equipped me with a range of customer service skills that have been really important at Preim. At university I was captain of the lacrosse team too. Although it seems worlds apart, working as part of a team is equally important at Preim. There’s a great team spirit here and everyone is really supportive of each other.”

Communities and sustainable living

Like Kirsten, Abigail had worked in customer-facing roles in retail before joining Preim in August 2017 and had recently graduated from university too.

Having studied Human Geography at Leeds Beckett University, Abigail joined the team with a wide range of knowledge in planning and housing including regeneration, garden villages and community engagement – all hugely important to Preim’s work.

“Completing a placement with Leeds City Council whilst studying towards my degree was a fantastic opportunity to see a lot of the theory I had learnt in action. Working in the community involvement department I had the chance to see different projects funded by the council and how these differed according to the needs of the community.

“To support my dissertation I also worked with local organisations and authorities to understand more about what individuals need and want from a community – all of which ties into my role at Preim now.

“I’m also interested in sustainable living. I volunteered at university with planting projects and encouraging environmentally-friendly transport.”

Since joining the team, Abigail has worked closely with Giuseppe and Cameron:

“Cameron looks after Preim’s portfolio of flats, whilst Giuseppe is more involved with freehold properties. Both have very different requirements and challenges, so my role is all about supporting the account managers wherever possible.

“As soon as I started working at Preim, Giuseppe was keen to take me to the sites he manages to learn more about them and what goes on at the residents’ meetings. This was really helpful in giving me insight into each of the sites and allowing me to engage with stakeholders too.

“For Cameron’s sites in particular I’ve helped to support on the health and safety requirements too.”

Both Abigail and Kirsten are due to be taking Institute of Residential Property Management (IRPM) foundation exams later in 2018, with the goal of becoming associates.

Kirsten explained: “the qualification promises to equip us with more of the legal background to estate management – it’ll help us to learn more and handle more in future.”

Abigail added: “it’s been great tapping into Giuseppe and Cameron’s knowledge so far. Completing the qualification is going to be great in providing us with more of a foundation to the service Preim provides and the background to it all.”

At Preim we’re dedicated to ensuring we provide the best customer service – whether that’s with residents, development stakeholders, contractors or developers. Team members like Abigail and Kirsten are key to helping us achieve just that.

Learn more about working with Preim.