For more than two centuries, Cheffins has been at the heart of Cambridgeshire property. But even for an agency with 200 years of resilience behind it, the last few years have presented some of the toughest operational challenges yet.
Mounting compliance pressures, a shifting lettings landscape, and the constant push to do more with less had begun to strain the business. Running five offices without clear, joined-up reporting meant the leadership team were often flying blind. Clunky processes, manual audits and time-consuming admin created inefficiencies across sales, lettings and property management.
“It was a nightmare trying to run five offices without clear data,” recalls Sarah Bush, Director at Cheffins. “We were spending hours chasing numbers, double-checking compliance and pulling together reports that didn’t always add up. It drained time and energy from the things that actually grow the business.”
The turning point
That’s when Cheffins turned to Alto, the UK’s most widely used CRM for estate agents.
With integration completed in just four weeks – three times faster than most other CRM platforms – Alto gave Cheffins instant visibility across all five branches. From lettings and sales to property management and accounts, everything now runs from one centralised system.
The results were felt almost immediately.
“Alto gave us the clarity we needed,” says Sarah. “Instead of chasing spreadsheets or second-guessing the data, everything is there in one place. It’s saved us hours every week and given us the confidence to make faster, smarter decisions.”
Real-time insight, real results
For Cheffins’ lettings team, the transformation has been especially striking.
Previously, fragmented systems made even basic income reporting slow and unreliable. Today, Alto provides real-time lettings data that matches up “to the penny” with accountants’ figures – enabling more accurate forecasting, smoother compliance and greater confidence in board-level discussions.
Christina Harris, Lettings Director at Cheffins, says: “We were spending too long pulling data together, and even then we couldn’t be sure it matched. Now our reports are instant, accurate and exportable. Our monthly reviews and annual goals are much clearer, and I can represent lettings with much more confidence.”
Built with agents in mind
One of Alto’s major strengths is its ability to connect seamlessly with tools agencies already use every day. Whether it’s Fixflo for maintenance, Inventory Base for inspections or SmartSearch for AML checks, Alto helps agents stay compliant without jumping between systems.
Day-to-day staff across Cheffins’ five branches now benefit from a dramatically reduced admin burden. Viewings, feedback tracking, compliance checks and reporting have all been streamlined, freeing up more time to focus on clients.
Sarah says: “Every user saves at least 10 hours a week. Across a multi-branch business like ours, that quickly adds up to hundreds of hours. Reporting used to be my biggest frustration and now it’s one of our biggest strengths.”
A genuine partnership
Unlike other providers, Alto also involves customers directly in its product roadmap through its Customer Advisory Board. For Cheffins, this has been a major advantage.
“At Alto, they don’t just sit behind a screen guessing what estate agents need,” says Sarah. “They ask, they listen and they act on feedback. It feels more like a partnership than a supplier relationship and that’s rare in this industry.”
Looking ahead
With the pace of change in lettings and sales accelerating, from reform and compliance to the rise of AI, agencies are increasingly reliant on having the right CRM at the heart of their operations.
For Cheffins, Alto has already proven it can deliver both the everyday efficiencies and the future-proofing that modern agencies demand.
Sarah concludes: “Whatever the industry throws at us next, I know Alto will be part of how we deal with it. They’re not just helping us save time today – they’re helping us build for the future.”
Want to see how Alto could transform your agency? Book your free demo today
See Alto through the eyes of an agent – register now to hear Cheffins’ Sarah Bush discuss how her team saved hundreds of hours every week, on Alto’s upcoming Masterclass session.
