As a former senior manager of gastro pubs and luxury hotels, Chris Hardwicke knew what it would take to manage the day-to-day running of beautiful homes and deliver stand-out guest experiences when he launched his Pass the Keys franchise in Bath in 2021.

Since then, his skills and experience, together with the support of a reputable franchisor and cutting-edge technology, have enabled him to build a portfolio of 50 properties, with plans in place to open a second franchise later this year.

Passion for hospitality

From a young age, Chris knew he wanted to work in the hospitality sector. His first foray into the working world came after university when he got a job in banking, but this stint lasted just six months.

His next move was to open two gastro pubs in London. “I ran those for about four years and sold them before the market crash,” Chris recalls. “I then worked for the gentleman who set up the Slug and Lettuce chain – he had about six pubs under a different brand and I helped him run them for a year or two.”

Chris later went on to work for Robin Shepherd, a multi-award-winning hotelier and founder of Bespoke Hotels, the UK’s largest independent hotel group.

“I started as an operations manager at a hotel in Bermondsey Square and from there I became the general manager of Le Suite West in Bayswater,” he says.

In 2016, Chris moved to Bath, where he managed two high-end boutique hotels, No. 15 Great Pulteney and The Bird, until he discovered a business opportunity in Pass the Keys that was too good to miss.

Discovering Pass the Keys

Chris had built a successful career as a hotel manager, and leaving the role to set up his own business wasn’t something he’d ever planned for. But in 2020 he became aware of a growing demand for short-let and Airbnb property management in his local area and was led down an unexpected path.

“Customers had started asking whether we could provide a service to help them look after their homes and allow guests to collect the keys from our hotel front desk,” Chris explains. “We obviously had all the linen available, a 24-hour reception and we could send cleaners to service the properties, so it made perfect sense.”

“I put the idea to the owner, who thought it was great,” Chris continues. “But just as I had set the service up, I saw an advert for Pass the Keys flash up on my computer – they were looking for franchisees in Bath. I looked into the opportunity and thought, ‘I may as well provide this service myself’. I knew the demand was there, and as a hotel manager I already knew how to manage accommodation. The only difference was this would be spread across the city, rather than in one place.”

Why franchise?

Chris launched his Pass the Keys franchise in March 2021. So why did he choose this route, instead of setting up a property management business independently?

For him, the answer was simple: franchising with Pass the Keys meant having a team of experts on hand to support him with everything from finance to marketing. He also gained the backing of a strong, supportive network to guide him throughout his journey.

“I have a coffee morning every month with my peers – there’s around 20 of us who are on the same stage of our franchise journey – and we talk about any challenges we’re facing and how to overcome them,” Chris says.

“I also use Google Chat quite a lot. If I have a question, I’ll put it in the chat and someone in the network will ping back with some useful advice. On top of that, we have an annual conference and awards ceremony where the whole network comes together in person.”

Automated technolog

Another huge benefit of joining the Pass the Keys network is its AI-powered technology, which streamlines daily tasks and allows Chris and other franchise partners to focus on scaling their businesses, providing quality services and building lasting relationships with their clients.

“Our listings are featured on about 25 different websites and Pass the Keys’ software links them all together under one platform. So, if one site gets a booking, all the others are turned off and a message is automatically sent through to our guests, letting them know how to check in. The system then assigns a cleaning job to one of our cleaners, who will later log their arrival through an app,” Chris explains.

He adds: “Another thing the software manages is pricing – there’s an algorithm that inflates or deflates rates depending on demand or time of year. And there’s a finance tab which lets me view how each property is performing financially.”

Apart from a team of cleaners, Chris employs just one other person – his operations manager – but he’s clear that this wouldn’t be possible without the technology behind the scenes.

“Without it, I would need to have a team of about 10 people to manage the number of properties we have,” he says.

Future ambitions

Going forward, Chris plans to continue to build his property portfolio and, for him, there’s no limit to this growth.

“With the support of the head office team and the software we use, you could easily manage 50 properties on your own. But as we take on more, I’d deploy more people on the ground, so we don’t need to stop growing,” he enthuses.

Chris also has ambitions to open a second franchise in Bristol later this year. And with the Renters’ Rights Act coming into force in May, making long-term letting more restrictive, he believes there will be a surge in homeowners and professional landlords looking at short-term letting as a lucrative alternative.

“The challenge is that Bristol is very saturated, so it’s a bit of a shot in the dark as to whether people would come to us, but I think it’s the right time to do it,” he says.

“With the Act coming into effect, a lot of owners will want to think about whether they want to keep their property on a long-let or switch to short letting.”

Asked whether he misses the hotel sector, Chris says: “I’m still in it – that’s the way I look at it. But my work-life balance is 100% better now. Things go wrong occasionally and you need to be on call, but with a hotel there’s so many more moving parts as there’s usually a restaurant and event spaces you need to manage, so a senior figure will always need to be around.”

He adds: “With this business I find that as long as I’ve prepared well for every guest arriving, I can be on call from home as opposed to waiting at work. So, I’ve got a lot more freedom.”