Manchester property management business PropCall has signed a deal with the build-to-rent arm of the John Lewis Partnership.

BTR Operating Ltd was launched by the UK's largest employee-owned business last year and already manages hundreds of rental properties

Now it has outsourced its out-of-hours calls to PropCall, whose staff will cover block and residential issues at two of the buildings managed by BTR Operating, taking calls from tenants on evenings, weekends and bank holidays.

PropCall’s property managers will use the company’s video-call technology to aim to resolve issues online before any emergency call-outs are needed. The system allows PropCall’s team to freeze the screen and draw on the image to explain issues to tenants.

Bilal Mumtaz, head of sales and business development at PropCall, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be working with BTR Operating on their residential property management journey. By answering calls outside of normal working hours, we are able to quickly and efficiently manage tenant issues, protecting the company’s reputation and helping operations run smoothly.”

Rob Leonard, BTR facilities lead at BTR Operating, said: “PropCall reinforces the values and trust that are central to our John Lewis and Waitrose brands and the service we want to provide our residents with. They treat residents as individuals and provide them with the comfort of knowing there is always someone there to help them.”