“I have been in business for over 26 years and have been extremely impressed by the size and expertise of the franchise business that Steve, Nick and Richard have established. They and their extremely competent team at Platinum Property Partners provide a second to none service to their clients, and I feel sure even greater things lie ahead for them and anyone that chooses to fly in their slipstream.”
Chris Wilkins FCCA, Senior Partner, Wilkins Southworth
Chartered Certified Accountants & Registered Auditors

 

Steve Bolton, Founding Partner & Managing Director

Steve is an inspirational, unconventional and highly successful entrepreneur and has become one of the UK’s leading experts in turning property investors into millionaires in record time. He has a substantial, multi-million pound, profit-producing UK portfolio and a lead interest in international property projects worth more than £50 million.

Highly regarded as a keynote speaker on property investing, entrepreneurship and life balance, Steve has also appeared on television, on Sky’s ‘Property Pensions’, ‘Head to Head’ and ‘Property Kings’, and featured in the national press – including the Financial Times and the Institute of Directors Magazine. He regularly contributes to other property, franchise and business start up publications, giving expert opinion and comment, and personal interviews. He is also the author of a book entitled ‘The 7 Biggest Mistakes Made by Property Investors and How to Avoid Them’ – an essential guide to the key business principles that underlie successful property investing.

From leaving school at 16 with no qualifications, Steve had made his first million by the age of 30, then only just survived bankruptcy when his construction and training businesses were left in tatters by the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He was forced to sell his own home, but credits that period as being “the best worst experience of my life”, as it forced him to understand the power of owning the underlying assets of a business. He then rebuilt his fortune on the solid foundation of property.

Steve is passionate about showing people how to set higher standards for themselves, in order to make money, have a better quality of life and, importantly, share the wealth with those less fortunate. Through the Platinum Partners Foundation, Steve and his business partners support orphanages in Uganda & India and community projects in Liverpool, and back the ‘Make Poverty History’ campaign. Steve is also the lead patron of Peace One Day – www.peaceoneday.org – which is dedicated to achieving global ceasefire and non-violence for one day every year, on September 21st, and is ratified by the U.N. Steve is actively involved in recruiting new patrons and fundraising, and sits on the Executive Board.

Away from his business commitments, Steve, 42, is a keen sportsman: he plays tennis at club level and has been a semi-professional footballer. He enjoys fishing on his boat in Poole Harbour, flying helicopters, and always strives to be a better parent and husband. Thanks to the financial freedom he has achieved, he has chosen to take three months off every year since 2004 to spend quality time with his wife, four children and family, travelling the world and helping them to get a varied and balanced education.

Nick Carlile, Founding Partner

A qualified Quantity Surveyor, Nick has been a full-time property investor since 2004 and presently has a multi-million pound portfolio in Yorkshire and a number of investments in Eastern Europe. He is also one of the UK’s leading experts on self build and development.

Nick has worked in the property construction and investment industry since his early twenties. Over the past 12 years he has purchased and renovated a variety of properties in and around South Yorkshire, as well as managing both small and large-scale developments. From building his own home in Barnsley to managing international development projects worth hundreds of millions, Nick has a wealth of experience in the field.

Says Nick, “For me property is the best investment I can make. It’s something I understand, it’s tangible and unlike shares, which can be wiped out overnight, property always retains some intrinsic value. There are thousands of micro-markets in the UK and successful property investing is about understanding these micro markets in the short and long term.”

His professional background in quantity surveying means Nick is well qualified to head up the Platinum Portfolio Builder opportunity, identifying below market value property deals which will not only cashflow in the short term, but also be solid medium to long term investments. Having made many such investments for himself, he is now leading the team that enables passive investors to reap the benefits of owning a cash positive portfolio with inbuilt equity.

Nick is 35 years of age and lives in Bournemouth with his wife and young son. He divides his time between the South coast, Yorkshire and London. A patron of Peace One Day, Nick is committed to giving back to charitable causes, and he enters the Great North Run every year to raise money.

Richard Davies, Equity Partner & Financial Director

Richard’s extensive commercial experience and extraordinary ability to predict future market trends have established his reputation as one of Europe’s leading property investment professionals.

Following a fast-track career with Foxtons estate agency, working in Kensington & Chelsea, where Richard was responsible for starting and growing the short-term lettings arm of the business, he moved into property development full-time, buying, developing and selling sites in south west London for significant profits. In 1999 he also wrote his first book, ‘Property Developer Secrets’.

In 2000, Richard took three years off to travel the world and research international property investment opportunities, then in 2003, together with Neil Lewis, he founded the Visium Group, to capitalise on the opportunities he’d recognised in Eastern Europe. The company grew quickly both in size and stature to become the UK’s leading provider of research and investment opportunities in the emerging Eastern European property markets. As of March 2008, the company had averaged 37% per annum capital growth for its clients across its entire investment portfolio.

“I consider Richard Davies to be one of Europe’s leading experts on the analysis, structure and acquisition of investment projects. Having known Richard, personally and professionally, for nearly two decades, I have complete faith and trust in both his ability and his integrity.”
Jon Hunt, Founder, Foxtons Group of Companies

In 2007, Richard started sourcing multi-million pound wholesale below market value opportunities for Platinum Property Partners.  The success of these projects led to him entering into partnership with Steve and Nick and forming Platinum Investment Partners in 2008.

Away from work, Richard still loves to travel and he also enjoys running and wakeboarding, followed by a good Long Island Iced Tea cocktail! He is 40 and lives in Bournemouth with his wife and three children.

Philip Easter, FCCA, Non Executive Chairman of the Platinum Group

Philip is a highly respected board-level executive and qualified accountant who retired from ‘corporate life’ in 2008, after 39 years with Deloitte and then Norwich Union/Aviva, where he held the position of Executive VP and Chief Financial Officer.  He how has his own finance consultancy and is also chairman and shareholder in a fast-growing claims validation & consultancy company, Validus.  Philip joined PPP as a Franchise Partner in early 2009 and became Non Executive Chairman a year later.

John Reynolds, Investment Director

John is an experienced property developer and skilled in building personal and business to business relationships.

From 2002, he worked for a number of years as the Regional Sales Director for an international trading exchange, where he was also the national sales champion and consistently in the top three achievers in the country, over a three year period.

In 2005 John moved into property development and in 2007 he set up his own company, Coast Developments, which has current live projects of £5.75m GVD.  Over the past 5 years, he has been responsible for obtaining planning permission on more than 50 development sites on the South coast, with a total GDV of over £12m.  In addition to securing finance from banks, John has also sourced investment funds from private individuals, forging strong ongoing relationships.

In 2009, having known and worked with Steve Bolton for many years, John joined PPP as Investment Director.  He is responsible for sourcing new investment opportunities, exploring options with potential introducers and affiliates, and liaising with prospective Franchise and Passive Investment Partners to provide all the information and assistance they might need to make their decision about working with PPP.

John lives in Bournemouth with his wife, Leslie, and their young daughter, Lily.

Mark Burdge, Sales Director

Mark was headhunted by PPP from Martin and Co, the UK’s leading franchised letting agency. He has extensive experience in sales and marketing across a number of industries, but has direct and relevant experience that will make a significant difference to the Platinum business.  In the 12 months to May 2010, he recruited 38 new Franchisees for Martin and Co and has also been involved with reselling a number of letting agency businesses, so his experience in the sector is extensive and at the ‘cutting edge’ of the property industry.  Mark manages a well-established sales team, improving processes and systems and facilitating operations at Head Office.

Sarah Cook, Marketing Director

Sarah is an experienced Chartered Marketer, specialising in franchise marketing.  She has specific knowledge of the property industry, being an investor herself – she and her husband, Chris are Platinum Portfolio Builder clients – so is ideally placed to effectively understand and promote the Platinum brand and its opportunities in the marketplace. 

Sarah and Chris’s own marketing consultancy, Coconut Creatives, has recently become the first marketing company to be accredited by the British Franchise Association as an Affiliate and is highly regarded in the industry.  Within PPP, Sarah heads up the marketing, PR and events teams, while co-ordinating these activities across all the Platinum brands.

“Sarah & Chris at Coconut Creatives have revolutionised our business and franchise recruitment. In the last 12 months they have trebled our turnover and our franchise network has doubled in size. Our branding has been dramatically improved and we have far more understanding and control over our franchise recruitment process. Sarah has profiled in detail our ideal franchise partners to ensure we have the right messages at the right time while prospects are going through their decision making process.”
Richard Davies, Equity Partner, Platinum Partners Group

Neil Mansell, Lead Mentor and Franchise Partner

A Business Studies graduate, 31-year old Neil has been investing in property in Chelmsford since the end of 2005, following PPP’s strategies, and presently has 13 cash-positive buy-to-let properties and a portfolio worth just over £3m.  As PPP’s lead mentor, he has given over 100 days of one to one mentoring to new Franchise Partners and is continuing to grow his portfolio, while supporting others in establishing theirs. 

In 2005, Neil was working as a Business Development Manager in the city, earning £35k and dissatisfied with his job.  He bought his first investment property in late 2005 and spent the next 13 months building up his property business part-time.   By January 2007, he was able to give up his city job and move into investing full time, as the surplus rental income from his properties had matched his salary.  When the PPP franchise launched in 2007, Neil joined as one of the first ten Foundation Partners.

Neil now employs three staff, including a full-time property manager, which allows him to spend more time concentrating on finding new properties and developing and diversifying his portfolio.  Says Neil, “Being involved with PPP has not only developed my knowledge of properties and property investing but also helped me to develop me as a person and business owner.  Learning how to invest in a professional way is a skill, which will always keep me ahead of the masses. 

Outside of property, Neil enjoys working with a personal trainer to maintain his health and fitness.  He has done a skydive and completed the 3 Peaks Challenge for charity, and is taking part in the 2010 London Marathon to raise money for Barnardo’s.  Married in 2009, Neil lives in Chelmsford with his wife, Sarah, and makes sure he takes a break once a month to get away or simply spend time with his friends and family.

 

Steve Hogan, Operations Director and Franchise Partner

In his corporate life, Steve has held board level positions with some of the major UK and International FMCGs.  Following 10 years with Coca-Cola, where he was European Services Director, he spent a number of years in the wholesale and retail sector, primarily dealing with mergers and acquisitions and business recovery. 

 In 2007, looking for new challenges and wanting to spend more time together, Steve and his wife, Linda, looked at a number of business options and decided the PPP franchise could offer them the lifestyle and financial security they were looking for.  Since 2008, in addition to growing a property portfolio with Linda, Steve has also been working in a consultancy capacity for the franchise, as Business Development Manager.  He now heads up Operations, managing the ongoing training and support of Franchise Partners, including overseeing all operational issues and running the regular training and development workshops, along with Steve, Nick and other key members of the team. 

In addition to their 6 UK HMOs, which bring in an annual gross profit of in excess of £90,000, Steve and Linda also currently have 3 investments overseas, in Prague and Romania, and their investment portfolio is worth around £2m with equity of nearly £370k.  Their next project is likely to be a self-build, and they are looking to work with other Franchise Partners and passive investors in order to minimise risk and maximise returns. 

 Says Steve, “We did a lot of due diligence and research before entering into business with PPP, which impressed us hugely with the calibre of individuals involved and the franchise opportunity. The fact that they only make profit when we do reassures us their interests are directly aligned with ours.”