Neil and his team are second to none, excellent service, very helpful and would recommend to…read moreanyone. Not all estate agents are bad far from it with Reeds Rains. Thanks Neil

Great agents. No Sale No Charge - they did exactly what they said they would and more . Fab service…read morewould recommend to anyone thinking about selling .Thankyou so much to Neil and his team .

Well, the first challenge with Elite Lettings was getting through the door into their office on the…read morePershore Road. I'm not sure if they're paranoid and have some vastly complex security system in place, or it's a challenge to sort the wheat from the chaff: if you can't figure out how to get in, then you're not worthy of any of their properties. As it happens, I am clearly not worthy of any of their properties... However, once I'd managed to actually enter the building, I spoke to the very pleasant and well-informed Asif, for whom pretty much all of these 3 stars are for. It's a big plus to have useful staff like Asif at a place like this as, without speaking to someone, it seems a bit overly difficult to extract any information out of Elite. They advertise properties in their shopfront windows, but don't tell you the prices. Their website, similarly, does not list all the properties available. They also do not have a take-away list of properties available. Maybe this is because they are 'Elite'. Or maybe they're just 'annoying'. Anyway, 3 stars for Asif who settled my confusion, gave me lots of information and followed it up with various helpful emails. He also seemed to be the only member of staff alive and well in the establishment also, so perhaps he should get extra points for holding the fort so well.

Trident Housing Association's remit is the the same as other housing associations, in that they…read moreexist to help homeless people and other people in vulnerable situations find safe homes, and eventually purchase their own homes. I ended up living in Trident House, a large apartment complex, for the tail end of last summer. As you might expect, it's not exactly shining with luxury, and bits of it definitely look like they could do with some attention. The small newsagents definitely seems a bit sorry for itself, with only a handful of items for sale. However, the atmosphere outstrips the upkeep - it definitely has a community feel, with most people that you meet in the lift being happy to talk to you and help you out if necessary. Despite the upkeep issues, Trident should be commended for the good work they do with the people of Birmingham. (I'd like to point out that I visited one of their house recently and that was in much better condition than the apartment block). One can only imagine that the current economic climate only makes their job harder.

When we started looking for space for our business, we looked at The Custard Factory as an obvious…read morechoice for an arts business to set itself up. After feeling a bit dismayed about the size of the space offered vs. the cost, we started to look in other areas of Birmingham - including the Jewellery Quarter. The Big Peg - part of the same group as The Custard Factory was somewhere we vaguely considered - but compared to the Custard Factory it seems much more targeted at 'proper' businesses - not people who might want to throw paint around or experiment with smelly chemicals like resin or create their own photographic darkrooms. Similar to the Custard Factory, it's a bit run down on the outside and there are faded posters up outside advertising businesses which are no longer there. All of these things contributed to us not wanting to be based there, and instead looking for our own independent space elsewhere in the JQ. That said, The Big Peg is still very much a landmark within the area, and is the first place people think of when they find out you're a creative businesses based over that way. I think it's just more kitted out for creative design or marketing businesses rather than messy artists like me!

Thanks to Nicola and Neil #SHPR and #DeNadaDanceTheatre are very happy in their new workspace…read moreoffice 734! And bonus as The Big Peg is dog friendly too!! Thanks for throwing in the desks and a chair!! Thanks to Sharon and Nicky for looking after Fred so beautifully too! Much appreciated, and above and beyond office mgmt!

You think Birmingham...you think rotunda. The skyline here would not be the same without it. I have…read moreheard talk that you were able to go in it at one point but alas like many old building in the city it is now apartments. Landmarks are not as plentiful in Birmingham as in other cities so it's great to see this one still standing!

I was very lucky to have a night's stay in one of the penthouses- no. 2004, and it was lovely. The…read morebest night's sleep I can remember, so quiet up there, and the beds are very very comfortable. The Rotunda boasts the highest open balcony in Birmingham, so the views are really fabulous (although maybe not for the very faint of heart). The penthouse has one wall which is entirely floor to ceiling windows with a panoramic view of Birmingham and the Bullring, including St Martin's church. The apartment has two double (king) bedrooms, each with an en suite. One has a good sized bath with a rain head shower, both have hair dryers and bathrobes. The central living area, which contains a fully equipped kitchen, has a large flat screen TV with Sky TV plus an iPod dock with speakers. It's the little touches, and the service which makes this special. There is milk and oranges (for juicing) in the fridge, mueslis, ground coffee (from Urban Coffee) tea and hot chocolate. It's an eco conscious place with Ecover washing powders for the dishwasher and washing machine, and vegetarian shampoo and soaps. It is immaculately clean and the general manager Gavin is very approachable and helpful. With Twiggy-style models adorning the walls on canvas, if looks very cool too. The next day we felt totally zen. Worth coming back just for that!

I have suffered problems with my central heating system for many years and tried most of the…read moreplumbers in Kidderminster in an attempt to get it working. Result - same problems with heating and hot water, less money in bank account. With the weather dropping colder and my wife giving me grief, I called Central Heating Services for a quote. The guy came around on a Saturday morning and looked around for 2 hours. I was then told that some of the pipework was wrong, the system needed flushing and a new boiler fitting. He then told me how much the work would cost! (I think he guessed that I considered it expensive as I stood there open mouthed) He did assure me that the system would work fine and my gas bill reduce if he did the required work. I agreed we settled on a date when he would do the work. To his credit he did turn up when he said he would and after 3 days of taking up the floor, drilling and banging it was done - and it worked!!!!! Central Heating Services are not the cheapest plumbers I've found by any means. I paid out £3200 to other plumbers over a period of 2.5 years without any results - lesson learned, should have called them first. The new boiler etc was fitted over 4 months ago now and I've just had the bill for the quarter. My gas costs have reduced by 21% since it was fitted so they did what they promised I guess. By no means the cheapest plumbers around, but the best I've found and worth every penny. I would recommend them.