The challenge: supporting growth with systems built for more than basic CRM

White Commercial is a general practice commercial property firm based in Banbury, operating primarily across North Oxfordshire, South Northamptonshire and the Cotswolds. The team also works across Warwickshire and neighbouring counties for acquisition searches and valuations.

Its client base spans private individuals, occupiers, developers, investors and institutional owners. While industrial is a core area of activity, White Commercial also operates across offices, retail, development and investment, giving the team a broad and varied instruction book.

After 40 years trading in North Oxfordshire, repeat business and long-standing client relationships are central to the firm, whose regional expertise was recognised with CoStar’s Office Agent of the Year award for Oxford & Oxfordshire last year.

As instruction volumes grew and client expectations evolved, the technology supporting the business needed to keep pace.

White Commercial had been working with a bespoke system originally built for the firm in the early-to-mid 1990s. While it captured client requirements, it could not support the broader needs of a modern B2B commercial property agency.

There was no integrated marketing capability, structured B2B mailing to occupiers, brochure generation or comparable evidence management. Over approximately four years, White Commercial engaged two external providers to find a more capable CRM-style replacement. Neither delivered what the firm needed.

Some workflows remained particularly time-consuming. Creating a branded, photo-led comparable schedule for a valuation report or client could take a couple of hours, while acquisition searches required significant manual work before they were ready to present.

White Commercial wanted to move beyond simply providing property details and deliver a more professional, advice-led service to its clients.

"Your system just added that extra bit for us in order for our clients to receive the information and us to answer their requests and requirements."

Chris White, Managing Director, White Commercial

The transformation:  connecting CRM, marketing and market intelligence in one platform

White Commercial needed more than a traditional commercial property CRM. The team wanted a system that could connect client and requirement management with property marketing, structured occupier mailing and comparable evidence.

Kato brought those workflows together.

All four users in the Banbury office now work from the same Kato account, giving the team shared access to current client, requirement and instruction information.

For White Commercial’s B2B model, structured mailing lists make it easier to communicate directly with occupiers and target audiences. Listing management and portal distribution also support the team in bringing properties to market and keeping availability information current.

For acquisition work, Kato can turn a requirement into a polished, branded and photo-led document in a few clicks. A search across Warwickshire, Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire, for example, can be presented clearly to senior decision-makers without further manual formatting.

Kato supports the valuation and advisory side of the business by bringing comparable evidence into the same ecosystem. Information, photographs and templates can be reused, particularly when buildings on large industrial estates return to market.

Underpinning these workflows is more than 30 years of commercial deal data, giving the team one place to access and use decades of market knowledge.

The impact: faster reporting, stronger communication and greater capacity

One of the clearest improvements is the time required to turn market commercial property data into professional, client-ready output, ready for expert assessment and consideration

Comparable schedules that previously took a couple of hours to compile can now be accurately and professionally produced information in just 5–10 minutes for analysis and evaluation. Acquisition searches that once required manual assembly can be turned into polished, branded detailed documents in a few clicks for us to consider for more effective reporting

For clients, the benefit goes beyond efficiency. White Commercial can provide senior decision-makers with clear, well-presented information containing the details they need, including address, availability and price, without unnecessary complexity.

Internally, bringing client and requirement data together has strengthened communication across the team. Up-to-date information on instructions, requirements and enquiries is easier to access, reducing the need to bring information together manually.

Saved photographs, property information and templates can also be reused when properties return to market, reducing repetitive work across long-running estates and repeat instructions.

The wider operational impact is significant. White Commercial has been able to manage a growing and increasingly varied instruction book without expanding its four-person team.

And there is more opportunity ahead. Chris hopes to progress the team's landlord reporting and interest schedules as they continue to deepen their integration with Kato.

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