Estate Agency Leaders Podcast with Ian Preston

This episode features an in-depth conversation with Jamie Curtis, co-founder of Cook Curtis & Co, exploring how he built Cambridge's leading single-branch estate agency.

Curtis shares his journey from stepping away from a corporate role to setting up an independent agency, highlighting how an initial investment in standout branding, high attention to detail, and distinct marketing helped the business carve out a unique market presence.

The discussion covers key operational strategies, including navigating business partnership transitions, choosing single-branch dominance over multi-office expansion, and maintaining strong community connection.

Additionally, Curtis highlights his forward-thinking approach to agency tech, explaining how AI, automation, and instant digital response tools are reshaping modern estate agency by streamlining out-of-hours inquiries and boosting service quality.

This episode features an in-depth conversation with Karl Judd, CEO and founder of Ashtons, exploring how a people-first culture and a measured leadership approach built the top-performing estate agency in Hertfordshire.

Judd discusses his transition to CEO, sharing how strategic delegation and embedding clear company values allow the team to drive a ambitious 50% revenue growth target over the next five years.

The discussion dives into the evolving role of technology and automation in real estate, detailing how eliminating repetitive, low-value tasks, such as saving 45,000 manual viewing feedback calls, enables negotiators to increase fee generation by up to 60%.

Additionally, Judd shares his vision for the future of the high street, moving toward centralised operations while providing clients with round-the-clock transparency through digital tools.

This episode features an in-depth conversation with Verona Frankish, CEO of Yopa, exploring her journey from growing up as the eldest of eight children in Northern Ireland to leading a major proptech brand. Frankish shares her leadership philosophy, emphasising the fundamental importance of building trust, creating psychological safety, and fostering a culture of healthy, open debate within senior teams.

The discussion covers her strategic growth plans to evolve Yopa's trajectory through to 2030, alongside the practical deployment of AI and automated solutions to streamline repetitive processes.Additionally, Frankish reflects on her work with Women in Estate Agency (WiEA), detailing new hub initiatives aimed at empowering the next generation of property leaders and challenging the industry's historical lack of diversity.

This episode features an in-depth conversation with Kevin Shaw, Group Managing Director at Leaders Romans Group, exploring his 40-year career in property and the mechanics behind scaling a 300 branch estate agency network.

Shaw shares his leadership philosophy, emphasising why "the price of independence is performance," the power of a values-led meritocracy, and how to maintain a local entrepreneurial spirit within a large corporate structure.

The discussion covers the strategic evolution of the industry, including LRG’s pragmatic approach to AI, navigating multi-brand competition, and their new initiative to drastically speed up transaction times and reduce fall-through rates.

Additionally, Shaw reflects on the vital role of a recurring lettings portfolio in building long-term business resilience and offers practical advice for small agency owners navigating today’s volatile property market.

This episode features an in-depth conversation with Nick Thring, discussing his 40-year career trajectory and his transition from frontline estate agency work into running a multi-brand business.

Thring shares insights on his strategic approach to business expansion, detailing the acquisition of competitor brand Sears and the deliberate choice to maintain a two-brand, dual-website model to increase market dominance. He outlines how a collaborative structure allows both brands to work together, securing instructions that might otherwise be lost to third-party competitors.

The discussion also explores forward-looking industry shifts, highlighting the integration of Greenhouse OS technology to automate basic administrative tasks, freeing up negotiating teams to focus on revenue-generating opportunities. Furthermore, Thring breaks down the introduction of upfront flexible fees, demonstrating its substantial financial impact on business cash flow and its role as a core support pillar for onboarding self-employed agents.

This episode features an in-depth conversation with Charles Robinson, Chairman of Jones Robinson, exploring the power of rigid structure, discipline, and core values in scaling a highly successful estate agency.

Robinson shares insights from his 40-year career, detailing how a strict adherence to operational standards and a commitment to measuring behaviours rather than just results has enabled his team to achieve an industry-leading 80% completion rate.

The discussion covers practical management strategies, from implementing a unique commission scheme based on net instructions to maintaining sacrosanct diary periods for proactive client communication.

Additionally, Robinson discusses his approach to succession planning with a young leadership team, the transition to digital workflows through Greenhouse OS, and navigating the opportunities presented by the Renters' Rights Act.

Spencer Lawrence talks to Ian Preston about how he navigates the Renters' Rights Act, exploring why traditional "let only" models are dead. This episode delves into the evolution of property management into high-value asset management.

Spencer shares personal insights on overcoming burnout, the importance of "green time" for leadership, and how to demonstrate true value to owners through proactive connection and compliance in a changing regulatory landscape.

This episode features an in-depth conversation with David Powell, CEO of Andrews, exploring the unique 80-year legacy of an estate agency entirely owned by a charitable trust.

Powell shares his leadership journey, emphasising the importance of a people-first culture and the strategic advantages of moving against the crowd in a tough property market.

The discussion covers the future of the industry, including the "brave" deployment of AI to achieve better lead conversion and the transition of high-street offices into marketing assets.

Additionally, Powell details his efforts to campaign for stamp duty reform to reduce market friction and create a more sustainable, long-term solution for homeowners.

In this episode of Estate Agency Leaders Podcast, Luke Somerset, a leader in financial services innovation through his companies Finamply and Seedpath, discusses why technology—and specifically speed—is the ultimate competitive advantage for modern businesses. 

He shares how a relentless focus on rapid lead response can dramatically increase profitability, revealing that delaying a customer response by just four minutes can slash conversion rates by over 60%. 

Somerset emphasizes that the goal of AI is not to replace talented staff, but to bridge the gap between human expertise and the massive volume of opportunities that often fall through the cracks.

The conversation dives deep into the transition from traditional, labour-intensive call centres to sophisticated, AI-driven SMS nurturing journeys. By focusing AI at the top of the funnel to handle repetitive, high-volume tasks, Somerset explains how businesses can double their productivity while simultaneously reducing overhead. 

Whether you are in estate agency or financial services, this episode provides a practical roadmap for leveraging technology to recapture lost leads and allow your team to focus on high-value, relationship-driven work.

In this interview with Richard Hayes, the COO of Zoopla, he discusses his entrepreneurial background and the company’s current vision. 

He shares his journey from starting a car finance business at 21 to founding and eventually selling Mojo Mortgages before joining Zoopla. 

Richard talks about his leadership style, moving from a competitive "winner" mentality to a collaborative "win together" approach that now defines Zoopla's internal culture and its focus on bringing value to customers.

The conversation also explores Zoopla’s role as a marketing partner for estate agents, focusing on high-quality lead generation and the strategic use of data. Richard explains how Zoopla is investing in AI to enhance the consumer experience through personalised property alerts and improved search parameters while ensuring these tools drive real ROI for agents. 

Finally, he offers advice for agency owners, encouraging them to embrace experimentation, specifically with flexible fee models, and to stay curious about how AI can improve their business operations.