Chestertons and Chase Buchanan, London: 87-branch multi-site infrastructure programme
How ACCL grew from a single emergency call-out into the standing infrastructure partner for an 87-branch London estate agency group.
What began as an emergency repair after a water leak at one Chestertons branch became a phased infrastructure programme across the entire Campions Group estate, now covering Chestertons and Chase Buchanan alike. Every phase ran outside trading hours, so the branches never closed.
The result
ACCL delivered a multi-phase infrastructure programme across two brands and two years. The completed project provided the Campions Group with:
- Zero disrupted trading days across two years
- Emergency response that saved the Knightsbridge branch
- Modern cabinets installed at every branch
- Legacy telephone systems replaced with VoIP infrastructure
- Approved supplier status for all new Chase Buchanan branch fit-outs
- Hybrid fibre, Cat5e, Cat6 and Cat6A cabling deployed estate-wide
- Cisco Meraki enterprise Wi-Fi with segregated staff and guest networks
- An ongoing strategic infrastructure partnership across all 87 locations
Services delivered
Overview
The Campions Group operates two of London’s leading property brands, Chestertons and Chase Buchanan, across a combined 87-branch portfolio. When a water leak took the Knightsbridge branch offline, ACCL was called in to fix one office. Two years later, ACCL is the strategic infrastructure partner for the entire group.
The Knightsbridge call-out revealed something that went well beyond a single branch. Across Chestertons’ 35-branch estate, legacy IT infrastructure, in some cases up to 15 years old, was creating operational risk: undersized cabinets, obsolete telephone systems, ageing CCTV and cabling that could not reliably support modern switching, Wi-Fi or VoIP.
The challenge
For a group of estate agency branches operating six days a week, the commercial stakes were significant. If one branch could go dark for two weeks, so could another.
Any upgrade programme had to be delivered without a single lost trading day, across dozens of live, occupied branches, coordinated with each site’s own IT and facilities arrangements. The project became part of a larger programme to standardise, modernise and protect branch operations across the entire estate.
Before: legacy infrastructure across the estate
This is what ACCL found repeated across branch after branch: undersized cabinets, tangled and unlabelled cabling, and switching equipment that could not reliably support modern demands. None of it was documented, and none of it was designed to be worked on safely at speed.
It is the reason a single flooded branch turned into an 87-branch programme. Legacy infrastructure like this was not a one-off problem at Knightsbridge, it was the estate-wide norm.
Emergency response, then a 34-branch rollout
A water ingress incident left the Knightsbridge branch without connectivity for two weeks, a serious disruption for one of London’s busiest estate agency offices. ACCL relocated the communications cabinet away from the source of the damage, stripped out redundant legacy cabling, and installed new structured cabling for VoIP, internet and Wi-Fi. The branch was back to full operational capability without further disruption to the team.
The quality of that response gave Chestertons the confidence to commission a full audit and infrastructure upgrade across all 35 branches, delivered entirely outside business hours so that not a single trading day would be lost.
Project context
87 live estate agency branches · London-wide
Structured cabling for retail & multi-site estates →Running a multi-branch estate on ageing infrastructure?
ACCL modernised 87 live Chestertons and Chase Buchanan branches over 30 weekends, without losing a single trading day. If your estate needs standardising, a site survey is the place to start.
Standardising a growing estate
Before any work began, ACCL audited every branch: assessing switch port requirements, testing existing cabling and identifying what could be retained versus replaced. That audit became the foundation for a phased deployment schedule, developed in close collaboration with Chestertons’ IT and facilities teams.
New communications cabinets were installed at every site. A hybrid cabling solution, fibre optic, Cat5e, Cat6 and Cat6A, was deployed according to each site’s specific requirements. Across 30 weekends, every branch was upgraded and handed back ready for trading on Monday morning.
After: standardised, tested and labelled
The result at every branch was the same regardless of the starting point: a properly sized cabinet, cabling tested and dressed to a consistent standard, and everything labelled and documented, so any engineer working at any branch afterwards knows exactly what they are looking at.
That consistency is what makes the estate manageable now, and what makes every new Chase Buchanan branch fit-out faster than the last.
Enterprise Wi-Fi and a standardised fit-out model
With the physical infrastructure modernised, ACCL deployed a Cisco Meraki enterprise Wi-Fi platform across every branch, with segregated networks for staff and guests, giving agents reliable connectivity and visiting clients a professional experience. New cabling was installed to position each access point precisely, again entirely out of hours.
ACCL’s track record across the Chestertons estate led to its appointment as approved supplier for all new Chase Buchanan branch fit-outs. Rather than treating each opening as a one-off, ACCL developed standardised set-up packages covering cabling, cabinets and Wi-Fi, deployed consistently across every new location: faster openings, predictable costs, and an estate that runs on compatible, supportable infrastructure.
A permanent infrastructure partnership
What started as a call-out is now a standing arrangement. ACCL operates as the Campions Group’s infrastructure team, not only on call when something goes wrong, but involved early enough to stop problems happening: proactive fault-finding across all 87 branches, branch-level budget planning and technology forecasting, and standardised technology packages that keep every site compatible and supportable.
Technologies used
ACCL’s role
This programme required far more than swapping out old cabinets. ACCL provided the Campions Group with a complete multi-site infrastructure service, including:
- Emergency remediation of the Knightsbridge branch after a water ingress incident
- Full audit across 87 branches: switch ports, cabling condition, retain-vs-replace assessment
- Phased deployment schedule developed with Chestertons’ IT and facilities teams
- New communications cabinets installed at every branch
- Hybrid fibre, Cat5e, Cat6 and Cat6A cabling deployed to each site’s requirements
- Legacy telephone systems and cabling removed
- VoIP infrastructure installation
- Cisco Meraki enterprise Wi-Fi platform with segregated staff and guest networks
- New cabling for precise access point placement
- Standardised set-up packages for new Chase Buchanan branch fit-outs
- Approved supplier status for all new branch openings
- 30 weekends of out-of-hours delivery with zero disruption to trading
- Ongoing proactive fault-finding and resolution across all 87 branches
- Branch-level budget planning, technology forecasting and refresh planning
Explore related ACCL services
Related guidance
Foreword by Wayne
“Chestertons is a good example of what happens when you do the emergency job properly. We were called in to fix one flooded branch, and if we’d just fixed it and left, that would have been a reasonable outcome. Instead we flagged what we’d found: infrastructure up to 15 years old, repeated across an entire estate, and one bad weekend away from happening again somewhere else. Two years and 87 branches later, we’re still the team Campions Group calls first, not because of a sales process, but because every one of those 30 weekends went to plan.”Wayne Connors, Managing Director, ACCL
“ACCL have worked with us over the last year to replace network cabinets in branch offices following an acquisition. Their work is first class, and they are diligent and thorough in the work execution. On top of that, they are really nice people to deal with. Extremely friendly and above all, extremely professional.”Duncan Borland, Campions Group
Frequently asked questions
How did ACCL’s relationship with Chestertons start?
A water ingress incident took the Knightsbridge branch offline for two weeks. ACCL was called in for emergency remediation, relocating the communications cabinet and installing new structured cabling to restore the branch without further disruption.
How many branches does the programme now cover?
87 branches across two brands: 35 Chestertons branches and 52 Chase Buchanan branches, all now part of the same standardised infrastructure programme.
How did ACCL upgrade 35 branches without disrupting trading?
All physical work was carried out over weekends and outside trading hours. Across 30 weekends, every branch was upgraded and handed back ready for trading on Monday morning, with zero lost trading days.
What cabling was installed across the estate?
A hybrid cabling solution comprising fibre optic, Cat 5e, Cat 6 and Cat 6A, deployed according to each branch’s specific requirements.
What Wi-Fi platform did ACCL deploy?
A Cisco Meraki enterprise Wi-Fi platform, installed across all branches with segregated networks for staff and guests.
Why was the legacy infrastructure considered a risk?
Some branches were running IT infrastructure up to 15 years old: undersized cabinets, obsolete telephone systems, ageing CCTV and cabling that could not reliably support modern switching, Wi-Fi or VoIP. For branches trading six days a week, that created real commercial risk.
Is ACCL involved in new Chase Buchanan branch openings?
Yes. ACCL is the approved supplier for all new Chase Buchanan branch fit-outs, using standardised set-up packages covering cabling, cabinets and Wi-Fi for faster, more predictable openings.
What does ACCL do for the Campions Group now?
ACCL operates as an ongoing strategic infrastructure partner: proactive fault-finding and resolution across all 87 branches, branch-level budget planning and technology forecasting, and technology refresh planning to keep the estate current.
How long has ACCL worked with the Campions Group?
The relationship began with the Knightsbridge emergency call-out and has run for two years, expanding through four phases into a standing infrastructure partnership across all 87 branches.
What happened to the old telephone systems?
Obsolete legacy telephone systems and their associated cabling were removed as part of the upgrade, replaced with new VoIP infrastructure alongside the structured cabling and Wi-Fi rollout.
Why does a standardised set-up package matter for a growing estate?
Using the same cabling, cabinet and Wi-Fi package at every new branch means faster openings, predictable costs, and an estate where every location runs on compatible, supportable infrastructure, rather than one-off installs that are harder to manage over time.
Managing IT across a growing multi-site estate?
Talk to the team that took Chestertons and Chase Buchanan from a single emergency call-out to a standardised, 87-branch infrastructure partnership.
Book a free site survey 0333 900 0101