Send us a text Hiring on gut instinct is costing estate agents time, money, and growth. In this episode of The Estate Agency X Podcast, Josh Rayner — Founder of Rayner Personnel and Inside Talent, shares how a culture-first, AI-powered approach to recruitment helps agencies hire people who perform, stay and scale. Discover how to move from desperate hiring to a system built on planning, profiling, and psychometrics. Josh explains how to define a real culture that candidates can feel, not...

Send us a text From an online false start to a thriving 400-unit managed book, brothers Matt & Neil Baldock share how they rebuilt their estate agency around lettings, systems, and people. After six years outside the industry, Neil returned to join Matt in creating a values-led, community-driven business that now leads in HMO and professional co-living. We explore how lettings became their ballast for steady growth, why structured hiring and emotional intelligence transformed their team a...

Send us a text When ten AI scouts prospect thousands of properties in under a minute, the rules of estate agency change overnight. In The Blockbuster Moment for Estate Agency, Mark and Rob break down the first AI workflow that truly shifts the economics of running a branch, from live-market scouting to personalized outreach at scale. Discover how to flip your model, raise revenue per employee and redeploy human time to the work that actually wins instructions. We cover EXA 10 insights, t...

Send us a text Breaking barriers isn’t just what Megan Eighteen does, it’s who she is. From her “accidental” start in estate agency as a temp between ski seasons to becoming the youngest ever ARLA president, Megan’s journey rewrites the industry playbook. In this episode, she opens up about managing 14 offices single-handedly during COVID, hitting burnout, and how that experience led to a complete transformation, personally and professionally. From losing seven stone and finding balance to be...

Send us a text Why do some estate agents thrive while others stall, even with the same tools and knowledge? In this episode, Simon Gates, industry consultant to 200+ agencies—reveals how closing the execution gap turns ideas into results. Starting his career at 16 during the 2007 crash, Simon learned early that success isn’t about knowing what to do, but acting faster and smarter than the competition. You’ll discover: Why every appraisal is worth £1,000How data uncovers hidden conversion...

Send us a text Marc and Shane, co-founders of Harris + Wood Estate Agents, are living proof that it’s not about history, it’s about vision, clarity and action. In this episode, they share the full story of how they launched one of the UK’s most exciting independent agencies, growing from three people to 47 staff across three offices, plus a mortgage business, all without a traditional blueprint. Their story challenges everything you think you know about partnerships, planning and profit. Befo...

Send us a text What does it take to walk away from a toxic workplace and build an estate agency entirely on your own terms? Julie Burns knows. After 15 years in property feeling “spoken down to” and controlled, she left it all behind, swapping sales for a master’s in photography, travelling to Palestine, and working on film sets. Those experiences reshaped her view of work, leadership, and freedom. When she returned, she did it differently. Naming her agency after a Viking warrior goddess, sh...

Send us a text What does it take to build and sustain a thriving independent estate agency for over three decades? Mark and Jacqui from Jacksons Estate Agents reveal their extraordinary journey from the pre-internet era through to today's AI revolution. Their story begins with Mark's humble entrance into the property world, volunteering weekends at an agency after buying his first home, eventually founding his own franchise in 1992. Jacqui, initially planning to temporarily manage the office...

Send us a text Thirty years in estate agency teaches you some hard truths. For Matt Giggs, one stands above all, you must choose between being an exceptional estate agent or building a business that works without you. The relentless 60+ hour weeks of estate agency demand total commitment, yet many practitioners find themselves trapped in a cycle where they ARE the business. When Matt started Giggs & Co in 2012, he deliberately avoided this trap by immediately hiring a team rather than tr...

Send us a text What does it take to thrive as an independent estate agency in the heart of London for over 22 years? Rob Hill, founder of Greater London Properties, reveals the surprising journey that transformed a temporary six month venture into a flourishing business with central London offices in Soho and Bloomsbury. Rob's story begins with an unexpected twist, armed with nothing but a Sainsbury's bag full of keys and a mobile phone, he entered the industry almost accidentally after 9/11...

Send us a text What happens when you dare to charge what you're truly worth? Laura Howey's journey from struggling estate agent to thriving business owner reveals the transformative power of mindset and vision. Laura co-started Love Property during the 2008 recession with modest goals, earn enough to avoid returning to corporate banking and have flexibility for her young children. For nearly a decade, she operated like countless other independent agents, working long hours, charging in...

Send us a text What happens when an estate agency owner realizes their business is controlling them instead of the other way around? Chris Ellis of Harrisons Homes shares his remarkable transformation story on this eye-opening episode of Estate Agency X. Having fallen into estate agency in 2004 and later purchasing Harrison Homes in 2016, Chris openly reveals how he nearly reached breaking point. After experiencing a devastating exodus of staff during the pandemic when five out of seven team...

Send us a text What if your agency model wasn’t just outdated, it was holding you back? In this episode, we sit down with Ian Macbeth and Mike Robson, the founders of Avocado Property, a brand now recognised across the UK for doing estate agency completely differently. No offices. No suits. No scripts. Just standout results, local leadership, and a system that lets agents earn more by being more of themselves. Launched with borrowed time and big belief days before the UK’s first lockdown, Avo...

Send us a text Running a successful self-employed estate agency requires far more than just selling skills and a higher commission split. Holly Boylan, Operations Director at The Avenue, pulls back the curtain on what really makes their model work for agents earning six-figure incomes while maintaining genuine work-life balance. After starting as an agent with Purple Bricks in 2019, Holly transitioned to The Avenue where she discovered a critical gap: "We had no systems, we had no infrastruc...

Send us a text What happens when a non-industry entrepreneur buys an estate agency? Dave Gibbons joins Estate Agency X to share the eye opening reality of transforming a struggling estate agency into a thriving operation by completely bucking traditional industry practices. Dave's journey began with a misconception, he purchased an agency thinking it would provide a "black book" of property opportunities for his development business. What he found instead was a business model trapped in the ...

Send us a text What happens when the summit you’ve spent years climbing isn’t where you’re meant to be? In this powerful episode, Dan Cohen shares his journey from Sales Director at a 15 branch agency to launching his own values driven business, You, Me and Property. After playing a pivotal role in the management buyout and growth of Paul Carr Estate Agents, Dan made the courageous decision to step away, not because he was done, but because he was ready to start again on his own terms. ...

Send us a text The property industry is undergoing a seismic transformation, one that most agents have yet to fully grasp. In this powerful episode, Mark Burgess, CEO of Iceberg Digital, and Elite Performance Coach Rob Brady go beyond the buzzwords to reveal why AI is not just another trend but the defining technology shift of our time. Artificial Intelligence is no longer confined to writing a few lines of text. It now merges big data, machine learning and natural language processing to powe...

Send us a text What does it really take to leave a well-paying corporate estate agency job and build your own business from scratch? Chris Webb's compelling journey offers a raw, unfiltered look at the realities of entrepreneurship in the property sector. Having climbed from junior negotiator to performance director at a major property franchise group, Chris found himself at a crossroads familiar to many successful professionals – financially secure but deeply unfulfilled. His brutally hones...

Send us a text This episode of the Estate Agency X podcast takes a deep dive into the recent Iceberg Summit, a gathering that didn’t just showcase the future of estate agency but reignited the fire within those shaping it. Held in East London, the event was more than just a conference; it was a moment of reflection, connection, and forward-thinking innovation. For Mark Burgess, it was personal. Standing in the very place where he once battled his own struggles, he saw just how far he, a...

Send us a text What does it take to transform a family run business into a thriving estate agency while balancing life as a parent? In this episode, we sit down with Sarah Driscoll, who made the leap from a career in quantity surveying and construction management to leading M&M Estates in Gravesend. Sarah shares how she shifted her mindset from working in the business to working on it, creating a sustainable model for growth that isn’t about chasing rapid expansion but about building a bu...