Biography

Roger Southam founded Chainbow in 1989 and has become a well known industry figure throughout the residential and commercial property management sectors.

As a regular panellist for industry focused groups for RICS, British Property Federation, Bank of England, HM Revenue & Customs, Department of Communities and Local Government and Chartered Surveyors Training Trust, Roger aims to bring about industry change to make managing agents more accountable and protect the rights of homeowners and leaseholders.

Topics Roger frequently comments on include:

• Protecting homeowners’ rights
• Right to Manage
• Appointment of Manager
• Consumer affairs
• Retail trends
• Conveyancing processes
• Regeneration implications
• Common new-build design flaws
• Lobbying for licensing of managing agents
• The importance of training youth in a trade
• Management for SME companies
• Effective retail and shopping centre management
• Fire safety in tower blocks
• Avoiding inflated insurance premiums
• Empowering your employees

Roger has more than 30 years experience in the property industry. Initially Chainbow was founded as a property investment company, specialising in shopping centre and mixed-use asset management. In 2006, it moved into residential block management.

Currently, Roger heads a team of 29 full time staff who assist with the management of 90 developments totalling 3,850 leaseholders. Chainbow operates on behalf of private and public-sector owned residential, mixed-use and commercial properties. The types of developments range from small four-apartment blocks to complexes encompassing more than 700 homes.

Roger is also Chairman of the Chartered Surveyors Training Trust (CSTT), the industry charity that supports young disadvantaged people into surveying careers.

Roger is a neuro linguistic programming (NLP) business master practitioner and a high performance coach.