Meet the team: Introducing Zoltan!

Introducing our newest member of the team, Zoltan! After taking on the role of property manager, Zoltan is now already in his third month at base and settling in great, so we thought we'd take the time to quiz him and get to know him just that little bit better. (Zoltan is pictured on the left of this photo of him and his lovely family)

 

In one word, how did you find your first day here?
Friendly!


What did you do before working at base?
I owned my own business, running two cafes in Brockley and Blackheath


What’s something you’ve learned recently since working within the property industry?
Everyone has bad plumbing. Plumbers will never be short of work.


Do you have a favourite property that we manage?
Not so far though many really are lovely - ex local authority are so big and airy and feel good when they've been refitted


How would you describe yourself in three words?
Vegetarian, gay, cat-whisperer!


Aside from your many talents in multiple areas, what one skill would you love to possess?
Polyglot - this is someone who is fluent in at least seven languages (!) . I have pretty good French, my Spanish is coming along fine (731 day streak on Duolingo) and I have an ancient O level in German, but it ends there.


Casting your mind back to when you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Actor / writer - I did some amdram at college and wrote a novel in lockdown (lots of work still required however!)


What is your favourite achievement to date?
Adopting children. Children have an amazing ability to be totally infuriating, brilliantly entertaining and consistently fulfilling almost in equal measure.


Who, or what, inspires you?
My partner, Mark


Be it a film, song, food, or anything else; what’s your guilty pleasure?
Kylie Minogue - I've been to see her three times - twice at the O2 with children and once at Earl's Court before. Mark and I have a favourite - Love At First Sight - that we love for the lyrics. I once got it played on the radio (although I didn't hear it but a friend of a friend heard our names announced and told us!)


How long have you lived in London, and which is your favourite part of the city?
I've been in London for 30 years, and love both Southbank and the West End. I have a friend who owns what was once Sir Christopher Wren's house, directly opposite his masterpiece St Paul's Cathedral, adjacent to the Globe theatre. I used to house-sit there and imagine it was mine! We would wander up and down and enjoy all the sights and events outside the Tate modern and walk into town. Theatre town is mainly for Brown's! But also I have special memories of theatre and ballet with Mark.


What was one positive you found during lockdown over this past year?
I wrote a novel in lockdown. It was a positive to allow my ideas for a story to come to fruition – I set myself 1000 words a day as a target and maintained it for a couple of months. It still needs a great deal of work and hasn’t got an ending so no publishing in the offing, but it was good to do. We also built what we call a studio for me to work in to give better space inside our little 2 bed flat. Its actually a tiny garden shed that we have put an extension cord into and an oil heater but it works!
Family was lovely also, spending so much time together (thankfully with the shed – sorry – studio) we were able to manage space and generally not want to kill each other!

 

Zoltan is your go to for all things maintenance related - if you are currently experiencing a maintenance issue in your home, make sure you report this using PropertyFile and he will be more than happy to assist. And, as an added bonus, if you can speak with him in German, French or Spanish it'll really help him close in on becoming a polyglot!