About us

Kingsdale Group was founded in 1994 as an independent company offering property management services to both developers and leaseholders of private residential properties. 

We now manage some 2,200 units on over 50 developments throughout England, of which over 1,600 properties are managed on behalf of retired home-owners.

We pride ourselves on our continuing independence and the fact that we are not compromised by commercial links to any third parties.  All our contracts are independently negotiated with service providers so that owners living on developments may be assured of receiving the highest service levels at the fairest price.      

Furthermore, on many of the developments that we manage, Kingsdale is appointed to act as managing agent by an owners’ management company.  The members of the owners’ company are those leaseholders who live on the development.  Thus the quality of service we provide, and our continuing appointment as managing agents, is judged by those who actually receive the service, and not by a third party landlord.

It is from this direct accountability to those who live on a development that the company’s service ethos is derived and then carried throughout all developments under management.

Kingsdale is a member of the Association of Retirement Housing Managers and is registered with the RICS Ombudsman Service.

The management team

The company’s Head Office is situated in Portishead, near Bristol.
William Butchart, one of the founding directors, continues to be involved in the management of the company.
William Butchart  BSc (Econ), ACA. Managing Director
Having served chartered accountancy articles with Ernst & Young, William has spent most of his subsequent career in property management.  Prior to Kingsdale, he was part of a management team that built up a portfolio of some 5,300 units across 170 ‘retirement’ developments in England and Wales.
In 1994, he was one of three directors who founded the Kingsdale Group.  He continues to be fully involved in the management of the company and has overseen its continued growth over many years.  
Helen Morrell  Regional Director (Midlands and North West). 
Regionally based to be nearer the developments she is responsible for, Helen manages a portfolio of both retirement and non-retirement developments. Helen worked alongside Kingsdale for 10 years in her capacity as Services Manager for the ‘Retirement Living’ division of Bovis Homes Limited. We were therefore delighted to be able to appoint her to the Kingsdale team in 2008. Helen brings with her an invaluable continuity of experience and knowledge of many of the developments that we currently manage.
Larry Sears  Regional Director (South East).
Also regionally based, Larry joined Kingsdale in 2008 and is responsible for a portfolio of retirement developments in the South East and East Anglia. During a lengthy career in housing, Larry has held senior management posts with Abbeyfield and Anchor Housing Trust and has wide ranging experience of all aspects of property management – particularly on behalf of retired home owners. He has also served as a member of the Board of Management of the Association of Retirement Housing Managers.
Janice Darknell Area Manager
Janice has worked for Kingsdale since it was first incorporated in 1994.  Originally based in our Head Office, Janice has been involved in every aspect of the Company’s activities.  She now takes that experience to her new role as Area Manager for a number of developments, particularly in the South West.
Stephen Chalmers  Technical Director
Stephen has worked in the construction industry for over 35 years.  Prior to working for Kingsdale, he was responsible for the maintenance of almost 1,000 retirement properties across 46 developments in the South West of England.  He remains as chair of the Housing Asset Management Maintenance and Repair Group in the South West and is a committee member of the National Housing Maintenance Forum. 
Carmen Reed  BSc, ACCA. Financial Director
Carmen joined Kingsdale in 2014, but her association with the company goes back some 10 years before this, from her previous role as company auditor.  She brings a wealth of experience in company systems and in her new role will be seeking to implement ‘best practice’ across all Kingsdale’s internal procedures.
We also have the services of Health and Safety and Personnel consultants available to us.

Head office

The administrative centre of the company is based in Portishead, near Bristol.

Our accounts department is based here and it handles all ‘money related’ matters. This includes the collection of service charges and ground rents (including dealing with queries), and makes all payments of invoices. The department also prepares annual service charge budgets, quarterly management accounts and annual accounts in preparation for external audit.

Head Office manages the administrative and technical aspects of maintenance works, as well as the planning of major projects such as external redecoration.

Head Office deals with all personnel matters, including payroll administration. It also handles insurance claims and the legal aspects of apartment re-sales.
Please do not hesitate to contact us for further information and advice. 
We have no sales staff in our team, only practitioners, so you will always be dealing with people who really know the property business.