The Arch Company Reviews 128

Greedy landlords closing down community services as usual. They don't care about small businesses as they claim to.

Worst company in the history of mankind! Without any exaggeration!

Tenant for 24 years and being evicted now because they’ve trebled my rent and I can’t afford it!

24 years I’ve paid every month on time!

AVOID AVOID AVOID AVOID AVOID

This is the company formed to take over the old Network Rail properties [which were owned by the nation] after that idiot scumbag chancellor Osborne decided to sell them off on 125-year leases, to an Amercian consortium comprising Blackstone and the Pears soap family - so another load of money flowing out of the UK. There was NO opportunity for individual UK tenants to lease these, as the deal was done for every single Network Rail property, as a whole. When they took over the leases, Arch Co immediately began massively increasing rents, bullying, threatening and intimidating tenants, both directly and via the parasitical third-party surveyor companies they use, such as [in my case] Grant Mills Wood. We have been a Network Rail tenant for over 20 years, which apparently counts for nothing, and Arch Co trebled our current rent [from £59k to £171K], forcing us to look for new premises out of London, where we have been for 20 years, and to make cuts to our workforce. There are a wealth of empty arches around us, and indeed all over London, where Arch Co have employed this "pay it or f off" tactic - they seemingly could not care less about long term tenants, or keeping the arches let out, as they have VERY deep pockets and their attitude seems to be that they would rather leave arches standing empty, to be able to justify the mouth-watering and extortionate rents they are charging others, than let them out or renew at a fair rent. My advice to anyone reading this review whilst considering renting premises from Arch Co is - STOP! DONT DO IT! Because if you do get any sort of initial deal from them [or think you have!] - such as a "reduced" rent initially, or a [tiny] rent free period whilst you are setting the business up, then you will pay for this long term. You will have a 3 yearly rent review, and once your business is established, and it is difficult, time consuming and costly to re-locate your operation then Arch Co will start tightening the screw on you. This will not only ultimately cost you a lot financially in higher rent, but will cost you loads of time yourself in dealing with it [detracting from trying to actually run your business] and an absolute fortune in surveyors and lawyer's costs fighting Arch Co. In my case, it has also cost me 3 years of stress and sleepless nights. There is a wealth of other commercial premises available, from a whole host of smaller, private, commercial landlords who will value your tenancy and custom and do all they can to retain tenants who pay on time and don't cause any problems - as is the case with most normal thinking and fair landlords. The Arch Co certainly do not fall into this category, and if there is any justice in this world, they will lose all their tenants eventually, the gravy train will hit the buffers, and their staff along with the third-party parasite industry that supports them will all find themselves out of a job. How I will laugh when that day comes.

AVOID AVOID AVOID AVOID This company advertise themselves as being pro small business but don't waste your time looking for property with them. We put in an enquiry and got a one sentence rude reply. They didn't answer our questions, had no interest whatever in our proposal and didn't even have the courtesy to add us to their mailing
list. Appalling customer service and useless self-absorbed property managers.

AVOID at all costs!!!!!
You’ll need architect drawings to build a wooden office within an arch.
Absolutely useless at responding to your needs.
3 months free rent came in March 2020 with covid then wouldn’t do much to help after that even though we couldn’t open due to restrictions, they were advised that we’d have to permanently close the business without help.
Wouldn’t give any movement on a six month notice period when the business folded, we had to pay full rent for 6 months for an empty arch!
Now to top things off my £3k deposit has had £500 docked off it which is Arch company’s error 😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡

No Answer to calls, no answer to emails. EVER. Can't even get these people to issue an invoice. Total bunch of incompetents. How is one meant to run a landlords that is always unreachable is beyond me.
Every single time we need to get in touch with this company (accounts) it is impossible to get a hold of anyone. Phone just rings on phone position 1 for hours until one gives up. I am sure the people in front of me just gave up instead of getting through to anyone. This is a repeated issue with this company. The only solution tends to be a corporate carpet bomb just to get paperwork which this company is legally bound to provide in the first place. Its a total joke.
If you are reading this thinking about renting a property: AVOID AT ALL COSTS!