How Western Permanent Property is set to save hundreds of staff hours and transform resident billing with MRI Engage
Western Permanent Property is a Cardiff-based residential block management company with a nearly 50-year history. They manage services for a portfolio of 170 properties across Cardiff and South Wales, collecting service charge payments and ensuring developments are properly managed. The team prides itself on clear communication and efficient service for leaseholders and freeholders.
Mike Waltho, Accounts and Administration, was responsible for implementing MRI Engage and get the portal live.
The challenge
Before adopting MRI Engage, residents had limited visibility of their accounts. Each payment or statement required manual processing, with staff handling phone enquiries, posting documents, and manually receiving payments.
Previously, staff spent around 10 minutes per card payment call, handling 8–9 calls a day, more than an hour of manual work daily. With Engage, residents can now view their balances and make payments online, reducing manual receipting time by approximately two hours per week. Once full payment integration is live, this will translate into several hundred hours of staff time saved annually.
This created delays, administrative overhead, and the risk of lost post, as well as friction for residents who could not see their balances or payment history. Staff also spent half their week chasing outstanding arrears, adding further inefficiency.
The solution
Western Permanent Property introduced MRI Engage, a resident portal fully integrated with MRI Qube PM. The portal allows residents to:
- View account balances in real time
- Download statements and documents instantly
- Pay invoices online (soon to be fully implemented)
The portal also automatically receipts online payments, reducing the need for staff to manually match transactions.
We pride ourselves on clear communication with our clients, and the portal makes that so much easier. Even something as simple as being able to log in and see your balance and payments really helps.
-Mike Waltho
Once payments are fully integrated, he anticipates even greater efficiency.
Right now, we send balances whenever they’re requested, but once payments are integrated, it will make processing much quicker and easier.
The results
The early rollout has already delivered tangible time and cost savings. With residents now able to self-serve:
- Manual receipting has been reduced, which could lead to around two hours a week for the team, or over 100 hours annually
- Posting invoices and statements has been replaced with portal uploads, cutting the time for 160 apartments from three hours to five minutes
- Paper, postage, and administration costs for a 20-block portfolio are estimated at thousands of pounds annually, now eliminated by using the portal
Mike highlights the impact on arrears chasing:
Two of our staff spend about half their week trying to chase outstanding payments. Once fully rolled out, we can slash that time.
The portal has also improved staff engagement with Qube. By standardising data input and making key documents visible to residents, the team can now maintain accurate records, track work orders, and monitor financials with better granularity.
Finally, MRI Engage gives Western Permanent Property a competitive advantage.
Having a portal isn’t just a convenience; it has become an expectation. When potential clients see that we have a professional online system for residents, it reflects well on how we manage their properties.
The Outcome
MRI Engage has transformed resident communications, automated manual processes, and will free up over 100 hours of staff time annually. The team can now focus on strategic tasks rather than repetitive administration, residents enjoy instant access to account information, and the business is better positioned to compete in the market.
It’s exciting to see how much more efficient we can be. The portal is already saving us time and giving residents the clarity they want, and this is just the beginning.