Property firm ARPM collapsed under £1.48m debt, new documents reveal

Collapsed property management firm ARPM owed creditors £1.48 million, it has been revealed.

This included £602,169 owed to trade and expense creditors; £36,000 to employees; bank and investors loans totalling £560,000 and £40,000 owed to HMRC.

Staff will be first in line to be paid any cash left over by the liquidation of ARPM, followed by HMRC and then other creditors.

But getting any money from the liquidation may be tricky – the Statement of Affairs posted online shows most of its assets were bought via loans and are now worth less than their original purchase value. ARPM was owed £36,500 by clients.

TBL steps in

The figures coincides with a commitment by the supplier of property management software to ARPM to step in and support the 60+ agents ‘left in the lurch’ by the soon-to-be liquidated company. The company is also one of ARPM’s creditors and is owed £50,000, the Companies House documents show.

Technology Blueprint (TBL), creators of PropCo, the UK’s leading Lettings Property Management and Client Accounts software platform, has made the comments today.

TBL is working with the ICO and The Guild of Property Professionals to understand how they can best help partner agents, while ensuring that data is properly secured and data breaches avoided.

TBL has already been able to offer vital assistance to partner agents who also have data controller status, following ICO advice.

Daniel Curran, Director at affected firm Curran & Pinner says: “We were thrown into a sudden state of darkness when ARPM ceased trading.

“Our immediate concern was to manage the workflow of our portfolio, ensuring that our service levels did not fall below client expectation.

“Technology Blueprint Ltd quickly established our immediate needs and by working with our Operations Department were able maintain our service levels while data ownership was established.

“During this very testing period, by working together we were able to form a new and enhanced working relationship and in doing so we aim to further improve our service levels to our clients as we move forward.”

Mark Howlett, Commercial Director of TBL (pictured) adds: “It’s tragic that not only have ARPM’s management left bills and salaries unpaid, but also partner agents and TBL in a minefield of uncertainty. TBL is bending over backwards to help affected agents to keep their businesses running, while maintaining data security and following the ICO’s advice. And we’re committed to doing that until we receive clear instruction from ARPM.”