A PROPERTY management and development company has been set up after breaking away from North-East residential property investor Grainger Trust plc.

Property Logic Group (PLG) has been established by the former management team at Grainger Homes, a subsidiary of Newcastle-based Grainger Trust.

Grainger Homes will continue to operate as a small residential property developer, while the management of all 15 of its schemes will be outsourced to PLG for an undisclosed sum.

Tony Dodds and Diane Longmore founded PLG and took on a team of six from Grainger Homes.

PLG, based at Newcastle Business Park, intends to secure property management contracts with other clients, as well as move into development in the next 18 months.

Mr Dodds said the business will capitalise on its work with Grainger Trust.

He said: "We are also interested in getting into property development ourselves and we are already looking at sites, predominantly in the North-East."

Mr Dodds said PLG will take on additional staff as it expands.

Grainger Trust, the UK's largest quoted residential property investor, yesterday said that it intended to limit its small and medium-scale house building activity to focus on larger scale residential and mixed-use schemes and regeneration projects.

The trust's deputy chief executive and finance director, Andrew Cunningham, said: "Grainger Homes will remain a subsidiary of the Grainger group and will retain legal ownership of 15 schemes, which are being managed by Property Logic Group.

"This move ensures that Grainger can forge ahead with larger-scale projects such as Gateshead College and the Kylins in Morpeth."