Holly Yates from Derbyshire decided to give up work when she became pregnant with her daughter, Cora, now two. She was keen to find an alternative career that would give her some focus while also allowing her to spend quality time with Cora, and her partner Craig.
In her diary blog, Holly documents her journey with PPP, detailing the challenges and successes and what she hopes to achieve.
"When I found out I was pregnant, I made the conscious decision to take a break from work so that I could enjoy bringing up Cora. I didn’t want to be in a position where I would be picking her up from nursery and finding out I’d missed her first smile or any other milestones. Making the most of the time I would have with her was really important to me.
Having spent the majority of my working life in sales, administration and office management, I decided to use the time off to study and achieve some additional accountancy and bookkeeping qualifications while I thought about what I wanted to do next. I knew I didn’t want to go back into a 9-5 role and as much as I loved my previous job, I also didn’t want all my days to be filled with baby talk. I wanted an alternative.
My stepdad, Nick, came across PPP through a colleague in his role as an accountant. He told me to take a look and see if it was something I would consider doing with him – he would act as a passive investor and I would actively build and manage the business. We already had a few single occupancy buy-to-lets between us which were being managed by letting agents, but we knew the PPP proposition would work.
This was on the Friday, and on Monday PPP just so happened to feature in the Channel 4 Dispatchesprogramme. Before and after the programme aired, I scoured the website and the internet in general to try and find something wrong with the company, the model, anything. I just thought it was too good to be true. There was nothing negative at all so I decided to make an enquiry.
Nick and I subsequently attended a Discovery Day in February which was fantastic for us. We got so much out of the day and didn’t shut up during our two hour car journey home. We knew this was what we wanted to do.
We then attended a Directors Meeting and my partner Craig came along too. It was one thing trying to explain what I was going to be doing, but it was another to actually show him and we got so much out of the meeting. It was also important for PPP to see how we were going to make it work as a family and that Craig supported me in this new venture.
I’d also met a few of the other Partners. A couple in Newcastle who were also bringing up a young family had really helped me to visualise what we were actually doing, what our houses would be like and who would live in them and call them home. I also met with a Partner in my own area, Derby, who was brilliant. He took me to every one of his properties, explained how he managed his portfolio and even did the gardening himself.
I then had a call with Steve Bolton. Despite thinking that I would have lots of questions and queries for him, it turned out that everybody had already been so helpful and answered every single question that I had that I just told him that I wanted to join straight away if PPP would have me!
We eventually joined in March and I’m already raring to go. I want to achieve three properties in the first year and another two in the second. At that point, it will be a case of reviewing our plans and considering what we do with the single occupancy buy-to-lets and whether we invest in any further HMOs. I’ll also look at whether I’m able to manage the portfolio on my own, or whether we look at hiring a property manager.
PPP offers so much flexibility – there is a structure but every Partner can and chooses to work differently, it’s just about getting the right balance and solution for you. This is a job for me so that I can have a better quality of life and spend time with my daughter and an investment for Nick. My return will come from the income, and Nick’s return will come from a majority stake in the properties.
It’s a big commitment and a big step to take when you have limited experience in the field. But, knowing that you have the support of PPP to take you forward through those steps is what is so reassuring."
