Jennie Roos took on the management of Emanuel House in Westminster two years ago and has worked to build strong relationships with leaseholders. With challenges including the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) identified on the roof, Jennie has been working closely with Westminster City Council and the residents\u2019 association, ensuring progress on the remediation and that all critical safety systems were in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it was an emergency at the development that proved to be a powerful reminder that successful property management is about more than compliance \u2013 it\u2019s about knowledge, empathy, and the ability to lead in a crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Late on a Friday evening over the May bank holiday, Jennie was alerted to a fire at the development. Working closely with Regional Director Leanne Barker with the Operations Director and wider teams on hand to support, the pair sprang into action, spending the night on the phone coordinating with the emergency services, the on-site porter, insurance teams, and Westminster\u2019s resilience group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe had older residents. Vulnerable people. People who didn\u2019t know where they\u2019d sleep that night,\u201d Jennie says. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t about policies or job descriptions \u2013 it was about people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By 1:55 am, some residents were able to return to their homes, while others were placed in nearby hotels. The pair were on-site by 9:00 am and spent the next five days coordinating contractors, answering calls, and comforting residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jennie adds: \u201cOur priority was to make sure the building was safe and that residents felt safe in their homes. We introduced a waking watch and worked to restore vital services at the development.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The London Fire Brigade commended the team\u2019s response, formally praising the preparedness of fire doors, automatic opening vents (AOVs), and the level of resident support. Westminster City Council also expressed its appreciation. \u201cRecognition is nice,\u201d Jennie says, \u201cbut for us, it was about making sure everyone was okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jennie currently manages 11 developments, five of which are high-rise. She\u2019s part of a close-knit team of five Property Managers, an Associate Director, and Leanne as the Regional Director. \u201cThis job isn\u2019t easy,\u201d she admits, adding: \u201cBut we support each other. I speak to my team every day \u2013 not just about work, but to check they\u2019re okay. You\u2019re dealing with people in moments of distress \u2013 and for them, it\u2019s not just a service issue, it\u2019s their home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to care,\u201d she says. \u201cYou can\u2019t teach that. If you don\u2019t care, you\u2019ll just do the basics. But when you really care about people and where they live \u2014 that\u2019s when you go above and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jennie also holds an MTPI qualification and previously won the Ann Garland Award for the highest national score in the Level 3 leasehold management exam. Managing people\u2019s homes is about having the knowledge and confidence to keep residents safe, deal with exceptional situations, and do the job well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Jennie\u2019s journey shows, the right qualifications give you the foundation to do just that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jennie Roos took on the management of Emanuel House in Westminster two years ago and has worked to build strong relationships with leaseholders. With challenges including the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) identified on the roof, Jennie has been working closely with Westminster City Council and the residents\u2019 association, ensuring progress on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2689,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-your-firstport-team"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstport.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstport.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstport.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstport.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstport.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2688"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstport.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2690,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstport.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2688\/revisions\/2690"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstport.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstport.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstport.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstport.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}