The smarter operating model helping Block Management UK scale efficiently
Block Management UK manages nearly 6,000 units across approximately 250 developments throughout England and Wales.
Growth creates opportunities, but it also places increasing demands on people. For Block Management UK, maintaining service quality while supporting portfolio growth meant finding new ways to create capacity within the business.
By partnering with MRI Software’s Managed Services team, Block Management UK has been able to transfer routine, process-driven finance activities to experienced MRI specialists, allowing internal teams to focus on more strategic tasks, improve responsiveness, and support the company’s continued expansion.
Based on their experience, the partnership has become an important part of the firm’s operating model and future growth plans.
Building an operation that scales
Founded more than two decades ago, Block Management UK provides residential block and estate management services throughout England and Wales.
As the organisation expanded, a regular challenge became ensuring that experienced staff had the time and capacity to focus on the work that required judgement, expertise, and customer engagement.
According to Finance Director Paul Mather, routine administrative activities were consuming valuable time that could be better spent addressing reactive issues, supporting clients, and helping the business develop for the future.
“The biggest issue we have sometimes is not finding time to do things. It’s finding time to think and do things,” Paul commented.
Choosing expertise over recruitment
When evaluating how best to support increasing operational demands, Block Management UK faced a familiar choice: recruit additional employees or seek an alternative source of expertise.
The company ultimately chose MRI Software and leaned into its Managed Services offering, recognising the value of accessing experienced professionals who already understood the platform, processes, and operational requirements involved.
Rather than investing time in recruitment, onboarding, training, and managing staff availability, the business could immediately benefit from specialist support dedicated to routine, process-driven tasks.
“The most straightforward option was to pick up on skills that people have already got that we can subcontract on a particular basis rather than having to go through the employment process,” says Paul Mather.
Freeing teams to focus on higher-value work
Today, MRI’s Managed Services team supports a range of finance-related activities for Block Management UK, including repeatable processes that generate reports, correspondence, and demands. More recently, the partnership has expanded to include support for new property onboarding and setup activities.
The impact extends beyond efficiency. According to Mather, giving employees exposure to more varied responsibilities helps them develop professionally while strengthening the long-term resilience of the business.
A seamless extension of the business
One of the factors that has contributed to the success of the partnership has been the Managed Services team’s familiarity with Block Management UK’s property management solution.
Having access to specialists with detailed knowledge of the platform has helped accelerate implementation of new processes and minimise the learning curve that often accompanies operational change. Once workflows have been tested and established, the service operates as a natural extension of the Block Management UK team.
“The biggest compliment I can pay is that when it all goes out, it comes out from Block Management and no one’s any the wiser. It’s a pretty seamless process,” Paul Mather says.
The consistency offered by the service has also been an important advantage, ensuring reliable support is available without many of the operational challenges associated with maintaining additional in-house resources.
Supporting future growth
MRI Software has become an increasingly important part of Block Management UK’s future growth strategy.
As the company continues to expand, the ability to scale operational support alongside the business provides additional flexibility. By creating capacity today, the partnership helps the organisation deliver an effective customer experience while laying the groundwork for future growth.
“By using the time we’ve gained through Managed Services to provide a more effective service, that will allow us to expand.” – Paul Mather