Member Article

Independent HMO Agency Expands to New Office Adding More Full Time Employees

A local Liverpool-born HMO agency that started out in May 2020 has expanded, doubling its office space and adding new full-time members to the team.

Founders Joe Duggan, 24 and Olivia Maher, 25, started the HMO agency from scratch, securing their first property on Gumtree; a 10-bedroom house in Sefton Park.

Since then, the property entrepreneurs have gone on to secure many other properties across the city via Facebook Marketplace, through word of mouth and recommendation, and now manage 256 rooms and tenants.

Having recently rebranded to Cosi Living (previously known as J.O. Property Group), and enjoyed exponential growth in the last two years, taking on two full-time members of staff to work alongside them, both Joe and Olivia felt they had outgrown their first office on Goodlass Road in Speke.

Cosi Living has now doubled its office space in the same building, going from 220sqft to over 500sqft creating a meeting and kitchen space, breakout chill zone and workspace to ensure that the team have an environment that represents the company entirely.

There’s now room for six desks in total to accommodate for Cosi Living’s further expansion in the next few months where they’ll be hiring a Finance and Admin Assistant, Portfolio Manager and an Operations Assistant/General Manager taking the full-time employees to six in total.

Joe explained: “It’s really important to us that the team enjoy working in the office that we create. The space had to reflect who Cosi Living is, what we do and why we do it. We want the team to feel appreciated and to know that we genuinely care that they’re comfortable and have the necessary spaces and facilities to work to their best.”

Cosi Living works with both landlords and investors to renovate, refurbish and maintain their properties, whilst also finding suitable tenants to occupy them. The company then also liaises directly with tenants, including professionals and students, to source suitable homes for them.

Setting themselves apart from others within the industry, the couple’s core focus is on quality and ensuring that every property they manage is finished to an affordable yet high standard. Taking student accommodation and turning it on its head, Cosi Living believes that it’s the little things that make such a big difference with beautiful finishes throughout including the kitchen, bathrooms, flooring and finer details such as paintwork.

Olivia added: “Our recent rebrand truly represents the business and has been so well received. We’ve used Redefine Studio, a Brand Consultancy company, to advise with the rebrand and interior design for the office to ensure there’s consistency throughout.

“The team has created a really effective office space that’s both multi-functional and welcoming. If our employees need 10 minutes away from their desk or want to take their lunch, we have a dedicated space for that where they’re not at their desk and can’t take a break from work. Or if we have a client coming in for a meeting, we have different spaces that are suitable.”

Since starting the business during the UK’s second national lockdown, Joe and Olivia have gone on to win The Best Master Lease Operator at the HMO Awards 2022; a fantastic achievement for the young company who were up against stiff competition after there were 377 nominations, 121 finalists and 18 winners at the awards.

As Cosi Living sets its sights on further growth in terms of employees and projects, the new office space reflects the next chapter for the successful company.

Joe said: “We want to attract the best talent to come and work at Cosi Living. In creating a space like this, we can show our values and how much we care as a company.

“From a client’s perspective, it also gives them a better idea of how we approach the management of their property and the quality and thought that goes into the refurbs and finer details.”

Cosi Living is based at Goodlass Road, Speke, L25 9HJ.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Richard Ellis .