How Symple transformed property management for the SME Group

At SME Group, managing a varied portfolio of residential and commercial properties requires precision, compliance, and operational efficiency. As the Repairs, Maintenance & Compliance Coordinator, ensuring that all properties remain safe and compliant while reducing administrative workload is critical. In 2023, we made a strategic move to adopt Symple, a property management platform that has revolutionised the way we work.

The Challenge: Fragmented and Inefficient Systems

Before Symple, we relied on traditional Facilities Management Software (FMS) to manage compliance and contractor bookings. Although it helped with basic scheduling and reminders, it lacked automation and integration.

Coordinating gas safety inspections, electrical checks, and other essential services across multiple properties and contractors was time-consuming and error prone. Missed deadlines, scattered documentation, and inefficiencies were common.

Discovering Symple: A Purpose-Built Solution

In mid-2023, we began searching for a more streamlined and effective solution. Our goal was clear: to simplify maintenance and compliance processes across our portfolio.

After thorough research, we chose Symple—a platform designed specifically for property managers and letting agents to centralise service records, automate bookings, and manage compliance certificates with ease.

Seamless Integration and Onboarding

The switch to Symple was smooth, thanks to the dedicated support of their onboarding team. They helped us import our entire portfolio and existing data into the platform, consolidating all documentation in one easy-to-access location.

With everything centralised, our team now operates more efficiently and confidently, knowing that deadlines and regulatory obligations are no longer at risk of being overlooked.

Real-World Impact: Gas Safety Inspections

A standout example of Symple’s value is how it improved our gas safety inspection process. Previously, this task required multiple communications, manual scheduling, and fragmented record-keeping. Now, with Symple:

Inspections are automatically scheduled.

Notifications are sent to both contractors and our team.

Certificates and documentation are stored in a centralised, accessible system.

This has not only improved compliance but also significantly reduced the administrative burden on our team.

The Tangible Benefits

Since implementing Symple, we’ve seen measurable improvements in several areas:

✅ Improved Efficiency

Administrative tasks that once took hours are now automated, freeing up our team to focus on more strategic property management responsibilities.

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Andrew Stanton CEO Proptech-PR

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Nurtur tech launches conversational AI Voice for agents

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Andrew Stanton CEO Proptech-PR

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Your CRE building data is leaking value

Week 5: How Vendors Monetize What You Ignore

Introduction

Welcome to Week 5 of our 52-week series helping commercial real estate leaders unlock value from digital infrastructure. I’m Bill Douglas, CEO of OpticWise and co-author of Peak Property Performance: Game-Changing AI and Digital Strategies for Commercial Real Estate. Today’s focus: building data. Specifically, the invisible ways it’s leaking value from your assets — and what to do about it.

The Cost of Complacency

If you’re not actively collecting, governing, and monetizing your building’s operational data, chances are someone else is. Vendors—ISPs, access control providers, PropTech platforms—routinely insert themselves into the digital layer, harvesting insights and monetizing usage patterns. What do owners get? Usually, nothing more than a bill.

Examples of value leakage include:
– Third-party ISPs monetizing tenant behavior
– Integrators bundling your network data into their SaaS upsells
– PropTech platforms storing data off-site and locking owners out, then monetizing it themselves
– Utility and BMS vendors keeping insights behind dashboards you don’t control

PPP Insight: Data Is a Performance Asset

In *Peak Property Performance*, we call this the ‘data drain’—the systemic loss of value due to outsourcing or ignoring data pathways. Under the 5C™ Framework, the third step is **Collect**—because if you don’t own the data, you can’t optimize operations or tenant experience. Modern buildings generate millions of data points daily. Every one of them is an opportunity to cut costs, personalize service, and/or drive NOI—if you own it.

Real-World Example

A 300-unit multifamily property audited by OpticWise found that 80% of its network data was routed through third-party networks it didn’t control. After reclaiming ownership of the infrastructure and establishing a local data governance layer, they:

– Gained real-time visibility into bandwidth and usage trends
– Introduced premium service tiers for tenants
– Reduced platform fees by eliminating redundant vendors
– Cut network downtime by 45%
– Saved $30,000 annually in third-party markups

In less than a year, this shift yielded over $95,000 in NOI upside—just by stopping the data leak.

It’s Time to Reframe Data as a Utility

In the past, infrastructure ownership was about pipes and power. In today’s economy, the most valuable ‘utility’ is structured, accessible, owned data. And yet most CRE teams don’t even know where their data is stored—let alone how it’s being used or monetized.

Ask yourself:

• Can your operations team access live data without going through a vendor?
• Do you have historical logs of systems performance, outages, or tenant support events?
• Can you offer differentiated digital experiences without vendor permission?
• Would you lose all relevant data if you switched vendors for that single system?

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Andrew Stanton CEO Proptech-PR

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