Initiative Property Management (IPM), a company overseeing a vast portfolio of 2,000 flats and apartments across the South, including Southampton, has abruptly ceased trading. This startling development comes as Dorset Police launch an investigation into alleged missing funds connected to property management.
The IPM office, situated at Branksome Business Park in Poole, now stands locked, with no employees present. Concerns have surged as numerous residents and property owners report having paid substantial sums to the company for services but are unable to establish contact in recent days. Additionally, the IPM website has been taken offline and is currently labeled as 'under maintenance.'
Records from March this year on an archived version of the IPM website highlight their broad reach, stating, "Our flat management/apartment management portfolio of clients stretches across Bournemouth, Boscombe, Westbourne, Poole, Christchurch, New Milton, Weymouth, Axminster, Southampton & Salisbury."
The Companies House website reveals that IPM's accounts are overdue. On August 1, there was a notice of impending dissolution, but it was revoked just one day later. The most recent company accounts, filed in November 2022, only covered up until May 2021, indicating current assets of £457,637 at that time. The sole director, Steven Richard Greaney, heads the company.
Offering residential block and building management, IPM had been responsible for 2,144 flats and apartments, equivalent to 175 blocks, as of March.
An automated message on the company's switchboard asserts that IPM is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
A spokesperson for Dorset Police stated, "At 5.14 pm on Monday, September 18, 2023, we received a report that an amount of money has gone missing in relation to property management in Bournemouth. Enquiries are continuing, and no arrests have been made at this time."
The sudden and unexplained closure of Initiative Property Management has left residents and property owners grappling with uncertainty and raises significant questions about the management of their assets. Investigations into the missing funds and the circumstances surrounding IPM's closure are ongoing.
