Our Story

Read the story of how the business started in 1990 and where we are today.

Read time 5 minute

Back in 1990, my father-in-law Jeremy Fraser and his partner Heskel Sasson started Kensington Flats to provide lettings, property management and block management services.

 

 

 

Jeremy’s been a huge influence on me, teaching me the fundamentals of property and people. Jeremy used to say, and still does, “Every deal’s your first deal, Rory!”

Jeremy delivered a personal service. He is a great people person and knew who the right tenants were, understood how best to manage landlords and how to build a genuine network of contractors and developers.

The office was right above South Kensington Tube station, and in a prime location to build a property business across Kensington and the surrounding boroughs.

Back then, it was all about face-to-face interactions – no computers, no internet. The office was busy with landlords coming in looking for a property manager or lettings negotiator, or tenants looking for a flat to rent. Jeremy successfully built the business up over 30 years and worked with the majority of his clients for over 10 years.

In 2014 I pitched the idea of joining Jeremy at Kensington Flats, with the hopes of taking over the business when he decided to hang up his boots. He loved the idea and suggested I start with the nitty-gritty paperwork of lettings and property management. I spent countless hours sorting through contractor invoices – a rite of passage in our business. I believe everyone should start from the ground up to truly understand how a business works.As time went on Jeremy exposed me to block management, tackling service charge budgets and major works projects. I also ran the lettings and property management side, getting a solid grasp of the property game.

I brought in new business and modernised the operations whilst keeping the business running smoothly. Frankie, our dog was the newest addition to the team and joined us every day in the office.

Then in 2016 Jeremy retired, I bought the business off him and took over the reins. It was quite the year. Not only did I step into a new role, but my wife Sophie and I welcomed our first child, Logan. We also moved the office to Putney and upgraded software systems.

Juan joined the business in 2020 and along the way the business grew nicely. Block management was taking up a significant amount of my time and I decided it was a practical move to sell that part of the business and expand into sales. The sale of the block management business went through in April 2023 and since then I’ve focused on re-branding the business from Kensington Flats to Rory MacDonald Property and officially launching into the sales market. I’ve sold properties over the last 10 years, but I now have the capacity to go all in.

Sophie my wife works with Juan and me and is responsible for marketing and driving new business. We’re fortunate to own and run a family business as it provides a genuine sense of purpose in our work-life.

I still work with many of the same landlords and buildings my father-in-law did and I’m genuinely grateful for the opportunity he gave me. I am now focused on continuing to build the business under a new name, whilst remembering what made this business so successful in the first place.