Stratfords

Published Apr 8, 2026

Stratfords had used the same CRM provider for as long as Luke could remember, through various iterations from server-based software to a cloud platform.

Despite the upgrades, the system still felt rooted in its legacy design. Luke recalls the daily friction: "You had to specifically learn the system because data wasn't saved where you expected it to be. With Street.co.uk, you can give someone the system and it will be in the section it's supposed to be."

Simple tasks ate into the day. Processing a renewal meant working through multiple screens for what should have been a straightforward action.

Compliance-critical work like sending gas certificates involved uploading a document, hunting it down in a separate filing area, attaching it to individual emails, and checking all the dates manually. Multiply those lost minutes across a growing portfolio and the cost becomes obvious.

After 20 years of accumulated data, the old CRM was also full of duplicate records. Luke knew the system was holding the business back, but making the change had felt like switching banks: something you know you should do but never quite get around to.

When Luke finally started looking, he evaluated four alternatives and found most offered little more than a different skin on the same outdated approach. Street.co.uk stood apart immediately.

Migrating 400 properties manually was a team focus. But starting fresh gave Stratfords exactly what their old system lacked. Luke describes Street.co.uk as "the single source of truth. That is the one place where our data is all correct."

Client accounting was the ultimate test. Stratfords' Client Account Manager, who handles payouts each morning, was apprehensive about the switch at first. But the verdict once the platform was up and running said everything. "Now they say to me, 'Oh, I love it. It's the best thing,'" Luke reflects.

Winning over the most sceptical member of the team was the proof needed.

The numbers tell the clearest story. Certificate management is the example Luke returns to most with the process previously taking four minutes per property.

On Street.co.uk, it takes ten seconds. Across a portfolio of 400 properties, that's the difference between a full day's work and a single hour, time that's now freed up for the things that actually grow the business.

Cutting that single task to ten seconds saves more than two full working days a year on gas certificates alone. And that is just one of several compliance documents the agency processes for every property.

That pattern plays out across the entire operation. Post-viewing feedback, maintenance tracking, renewal processing, application form distribution. Every task that once demanded multiple screens and manual follow-up now happens in a single step.

The numbers tell their own story. Until mid-last year, just three people managed close to 400 properties. When Stratfords did bring on an extra member of staff, it was a deliberate choice to raise the standard of service, not simply to keep up.

The agent app has added another layer of time savings. One of the most common complaints Luke hears from landlords joining from other agencies is that they never received feedback after viewings.

His team now completes every rental viewing through the app, which instantly sends personalised feedback to the landlord and a post-viewing email with an application form link to the prospective tenant. Without the platform, Luke says, that level of responsiveness would be impossible to deliver.

The agency still has capacity to grow, and Luke's focus remains on finding more time. "Every little second here and there you save, it just means that it all builds up," he says.

Asked what he would tell a fellow agent, Luke is confident: "I do think it is the best and easiest CRM out there."