Our Story

Property Strategy didn’t start with a big plan or a polished framework.
It started with grit, sacrifice, and learning the hard way.

In January 2013, Tomes Homes was just an idea — a dream.

At the time, I was 24 years old and working full-time in Market Research in London. I knew I wanted to run my own business and build something I could genuinely be proud of, but I didn’t have a big “Dragons’ Den” idea or a clear blueprint. When I decided to focus on property, I didn’t even know whether it would turn into a real business — I just hoped it might.

What followed were 18 of the most socially boring months of my life.

I stopped going out completely, worked a second job, cut everything back to essentials, and saved every penny I could. When my car was written off, I didn’t replace it — I rode a bike instead. I learned how to joint a chicken because it was cheaper. Friends thought I was mad. And more than once, I wondered if they were right.

Trying to get a buy-to-let mortgage as a young woman with very little money was brutal. Banks laughed. Brokers weren’t interested. Estate agents didn’t take me seriously. There were moments I genuinely questioned whether I was crazy for even trying.

But I didn’t stop. 

On 25 July 2014, after 18 months of saving and refusing to take no for an answer, I completed on my very first property: a £108,500 one-bed flat in Erith. It was grotty, tired, and far from glamorous — but it was mine. The first Tomes Home.

With limited funds, I did as much of the refurbishment myself as possible — ripping out carpets, clearing rubbish, designing the kitchen, and managing materials. With the help of George (a builder we still work with today) and Dave — then my boyfriend, now my husband — we completed the refurb in under four weeks, while both still working full-time jobs.

The response when the property went to market was overwhelming. Viewings were booked solid, and a lovely teaching assistant moved in shortly after. I was exhausted — and completely hooked.

After that first deal, everything changed.

Dave, who had been supporting me quietly in the background, came fully on board. Together, we began building what would become a family business. Dave’s brothers, Mike and Rob, became our first investors, followed by a small group of wonderful people who believed in us.

Thanks to that trust, we replicated the process another 10 times in the following 12 months — all while still working full-time jobs.

It was intense, messy, and exciting. But it was also the beginning of something much bigger.

As we grew, the pressure grew with it.

More deals, more investors, more responsibility. We were working all hours under the sun, spinning too many plates, and constantly firefighting.

That experience led us to create our mentorship programme, Deal Maker Accelerator (DMA).

We’d learned a lot the hard way — through burnout, trial and error, and doing too much at once. DMA was created to share those lessons, so other property investors didn’t have to make the same mistakes we did — and could scale faster, with more clarity, confidence, and far less stress.

DMA came first because it needed to. We had to step back, build structure, and stop firefighting just to keep growing. And now it exists to help investors do exactly that — to grow with systems, strategy, and support, instead of chaos and exhaustion.

But even with better structure and support, another problem became impossible to ignore.

As our business became more complex — with more companies, more cash moving around, and more investor obligations — we realised we still didn’t have the financial clarity we needed.

And as we started supporting more property investors, we saw the same pattern again and again.

Accounts were being filed.
Numbers existed.
But they weren’t helping anyone make better decisions.

We couldn’t clearly see what was actually driving performance, where the pressure points were, or what might go wrong — and whether we’d see it coming in time.

That frustration is what led to the creation of Portfolio Cashflow Optimiser (PCO).

PCO exists to give property investors the financial clarity we wished we’d had sooner — not just compliance, but real understanding. Because when you’re running a growing property business, having “the numbers” isn’t enough if they don’t help you feel in control or make confident decisions.

As clarity improved, one final issue became impossible to ignore.

Even when you understand what’s happening financially, poor compliance still creates stress — and often gets in the way of making tax-efficient decisions.

Chasing accountants.
Unclear scope.
Last-minute filings.
Accounts that felt rushed, reactive, and disconnected from the bigger picture.

That’s what led to Property Business Accounts (PBA).

PBA exists to support property investors with clear, reliable, and tax-efficient compliance — handling accounts and tax properly, with defined scope, straight talking, and no drama.