The Founder's Room

Ryan Taylor interviews Scott Williams from the Property Developer Show Exhibit and Podcast.

Scott explains his national exhibition, the Property Developer Show, a free platform for SME property developers that connects developers and service providers with speakers across six events in Bristol, London, Southampton, Birmingham, Manchester, and Leeds, typically hosted at stadium venues; Manchester drew over 40 exhibitors and 560 attendees.

He shares why he created the show after exiting a finance brokerage, lessons from an amicable partner buyout supported by a shareholders agreement, and the importance of leaving paths that do not align with long-term ambition. They discuss boredom in business, routine, time hacking, CRM tools (monday.com and GoHighLevel), reading habits, and quickfire answers including a potato tracking company, favourite quotes, and curiosity about how the universe began.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
03:42 Event Locations and Scale
05:43 Why Attend This Expo
07:53 Origin Story and First Events
09:05 Exiting a Partnership
11:09 Ambition and Risk Mindset
15:51 Growth Plans and Buying Club
21:22 Accountability and Systems
24:53 CRM Tools and Automation
27:15 Entrepreneur Mindset
28:14 Early Hustles Roots
37:05 Fear Of Never Enough
44:24 Spotting Future Winners
48:08 Quickfire And Wrap Up

Ryan Taylor interviews Sam Cook, owner of Blue Bricks Magazine, a UK property investment magazine for experienced investors and developers with a 10,000 reader print audience plus events like awards, clay pigeon shooting, horse racing, and conferences.

Sam explains buying the business in 2022 after working as marketing manager in 2021, the challenges of print subscriptions, and why Blue Bricks has moved to a freemium model while keeping print quality and the content to advertising ratio. They discuss VAT impacts on events, using AI to speed editorial workflows by training a bot in Blue Bricks’ tone and structure, and broader concerns about misinformation in the property space and online. The conversation also covers business loneliness, networking frustrations, deciding between lifestyle and “monster” businesses, paying yourself properly, focus versus shiny pivots, and Sam’s plans to launch a new subscription product aimed at solving loneliness for experienced property people.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:25 Blue Bricks
03:22 Magazine Value and Audience
04:15 Buying the Business
06:30 Scaling With Values
07:27 Truth and Hype Online
10:19 Loneliness of Ownership
12:54 Finding the Right Networks
16:56 Lifestyle vs Monster Business
20:56 Leaving the UK and Dubai
22:33 Acquisitions and Funnels
25:35 Training a Writing Bot
26:18 Model Bias and Prompts
29:18 Designers vs Automation
31:22 Blue Bricks Growth Plan
38:02 Focus, Foundations, Scaling
44:14 Quickfire and Wrap Up

Ryan Taylor interviews Scott Hilton of Box Property Management in Bristol about property management versus high street letting agents, criticising high fees like renewal charges and high staff turnover, and arguing landlords are shifting toward independent agencies for better service and clearer flat-rate pricing.

They discuss pressures on landlords from tax and compliance, including Section 24 mortgage interest restrictions, and how costs often pass to tenants. Scott outlines key changes expected with the Renters’ Rights Bill from 1 May 2026, including removal of Section 21 and fixed-term tenancies, and why student HMOs and international students may be most disrupted, while purpose-built student accommodation is exempt. The conversation covers buy-to-let opportunities amid landlord exits, corporate landlord risks, supported living via intermediaries, using AI in operations, and reflections on balancing business growth with stress and family life.

00:00 Introduction
02:39 Why Not High Street Agents
05:29 Landlords Feeling the Squeeze
06:27 Section 24 Explained
10:03 Market Shifts and Opportunities
14:27 Is Buy to Let Dead
17:36 Avoid Leasing to Councils
21:43 Renters Rights Bill Overview
23:32 Student Lets Under New Rules
27:11 What the Bill Gets Right
29:46 Landlords Forced to Adapt
30:25 Registers and Ombudsman Plans
33:05 Landlords vs Tenant Bias
35:31 Anti Enterprise and Tax Burden
38:41 VAT and Pubs Economics
41:54 AI in Property Management
44:01 Prompt Built SaaS and AI Agents
46:44 Quickfire and Business Goals
51:56 Ancient Egypt Rabbit Hole
54:18 Lifestyle Business Reflection

Ryan Taylor is joined by Sue Wesby who explains her family-run vehicle wrapping/signage company (about £700k turnover) and why they’ve stayed boutique, while diversifying into property and hands-on mentoring. She outlines her property journey - three flips, two held as Airbnbs, and plans to buy and hold in the Northeast - plus her deal metrics (recovering most capital, location, and value-add).

Sue shares an American-style selling approach using staging and open days to sell quickly, critiques estate agents, and touches on awards for credibility. They discuss property education pitfalls, cashflow stress, trades, valuers, and the host’s preference for supported/social housing as a hands-off model.

00:00 Intro
00:26 Building Business Community
01:02 Inside the Signage Business
02:55 Staying Boutique on Purpose
03:57 Multiple Income Streams
04:47 Property Portfolio Breakdown
06:25 Deal Metrics That Matter
07:57 Staging and Open Days
10:19 Selling Without Agents
13:01 Creating a Founder WhatsApp
16:57 Awards and Credibility
17:50 Roles in the Family Business
19:44 Business First vs Property
20:33 Property Education Reality Check
22:42 Valuations and Bridging Risks
24:18 Mastermind Lessons Learned
25:35 Seminar Sales Psychology
27:11 Pivot to Supported Housing
28:09 Hands Off Deal Flow
30:38 Yields and Unicorn Rents
31:56 Raising Standards in HMOs
34:59 Providers and Compliance Network
37:40 Buy to Order Strategy
39:37 Using AI Tools
40:13 Building Business Community
44:20 Quick Fire Round
45:47 Generational Wealth Debate
50:07 Final Reflections and Outro

Ryan Taylor interviews Oliver James of Property Branding about improving podcast conversations by starting naturally, then focusing on practical business issues. Oliver explains his biggest current challenge is filtering inbound demand to choose the right long-term property clients and partners, especially developers, rather than chasing all revenue.

Oliver speaks about how branding and marketing build credibility and can drive earlier, higher-value sales on developments, including a four-home scheme sold four months before completion and increasing GDV by £250,000. Oliver shares his business journey from redundancy, a first £110 logo via networking, year-one revenue of £28k, and consistent 50% annual growth over nearly seven years. They discuss adapting to AI while keeping human vision and high-touch outreach, expansion opportunities in the UAE, crypto fraud on Coinbase, and Oliver’s Investor Stream product aimed at helping property businesses attract investors (often ~£250k in ~3 months).

00:00 Start
01:48 Biggest Business Problem
05:04 Ideal Client Avatar
08:26 Branding ROI Case Study
11:11 Branding Is Not Luxury
13:36 Early Growth Story
17:00 Networking and Old School Outreach
20:08 Vision Growth and AI
24:22 Robots and Early Adoption
25:42 Neuralink Brain Chip
28:33 Bitcoin Price You Deserve
32:10 Building Custom Chatbots
40:45 Wrap Up And Investor Stream
42:41 Property Income Reality

Ryan Taylor interviews fashion founder Nic Stoddart about building her womenswear brand Tiempo. Nic shares how she left her job after encouragement and financial backing from her mum, and explains her 10-year fashion background, including learning the “full picture” of running a brand at Boohoo. She contrasts property’s lumpy returns with Tiempo’s consistent sales, noting average order value around £250 and £20–25k monthly revenue, and says she reinvests everything while supporting herself through consulting.

Nic discusses when fashion expertise matters, overseas manufacturing and whether to visit suppliers, sourcing via agents, and why Shein and Temu win on direct-to-consumer scale despite concerns about standards. She covers selective influencer gifting, avoiding frequent discounting, lessons from launching too many SKUs, scaling challenges like cash flow and first hires, and using AI tools like Newarc for design visualization.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:35 Property vs Ecommerce Cashflow
05:05 Fashion Career And Boohoo Lessons
08:08 Do You Need Design Skills?
11:24 Overseas Manufacturing Reality
13:09 Negotiating And Sourcing Suppliers
16:51 Year One Numbers And Brand Identity
17:41 Customer Avatar And Community
19:28 Long Term Vision No Investors
21:42 Scaling Problems Cashflow And Hiring
25:19 Why Fast Fashion Is Struggling
29:10 Why Shein Wins Shipping
32:38 Influencers Done Right
37:36 Discounting Strategy
39:51 Newsletters and Community
45:39 AI Tools for Fashion
49:17 Quickfire Business Takes
56:03 Wrap Up

Ryan Taylor is joined by Marc Bird, explains his vending and gaming machine business, run with partner Alex, including their complementary sales strengths, lead sources (website and Google ads) and the continued value of door knocking. He shares key numbers and realities of the trade: over 1,000 venues and 1,500 machines across the UK, small team structure, six-figure revenue, and how product mix drives performance, with male pills in toilet vending machines selling strongly while ladies products often do not.

Marc recounts his earlier involvement with “joke poker” machines, legal action and restarting via site-finding commissions, then discusses industry pressures, testing card readers to boost takings, and property investing as a long-term plan after lockdown exposed business vulnerability.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
02:12 Back To Basics Outreach
03:38 When Partnerships Break
05:59 Inside The Machines Business
08:46 How It All Started
09:59 Gambling Crackdown And Court
13:04 Starting Again With Pub Smart
16:02 Vending Economics And Deals
17:39 Pubs Decline And Operations
20:57 Card Readers Challenges
21:39 Innovation And Product Tests
22:43 What Sells In Pubs
24:14 Exit Plan Into Property
25:21 Property Strategies Compared
28:15 Lockdown Wake Up Call
33:25 AI And Marketing Outreach
36:11 Coffee Points And Wrap Up
37:28 Brands Must Evolve

Ryan Taylor sits down with Shyheim Prince, founder of High Living Estates, a Midlands-based property investment agency aiming to become a global investment partner. Shyheim discusses being diagnosed with ADHD and autism, how early trauma and school struggles shaped his focus and creativity, and his path from a fashion background and 14 years at Boohoo in logistics efficiency to building a property business after leaving secure a job. 

They compare prioritising cashflow and client relationships versus tying up capital in developments, debate the value of property courses and networks, and explore loneliness in entrepreneurship and the importance of community and surrounding yourself with smarter people. Shyheim shares current challenges around scaling systems and processes, ideas for automation and AI tools, hiring lessons, networking opportunities in Dubai, and where to follow High Living Estates online.

Chapters:
00:00 ADHD and Autism Talk
00:52 School Struggles and Trauma
02:22 From Fashion to Logistics
03:37 Meet Shy and High Living
04:27 Cashflow Versus Ownership
08:03 Property Courses Reality Check
13:49 Growth Mindset and Circle
20:11 Dubai Networking and Plans
26:27 Building Value Through Connections
27:38 Personal Growth Shift
29:06 Networking Creates Deals
31:57 What The Business Does
33:11 Vision For Global Scale
33:57 Scaling Pains And Ops
36:30 Automation And AI Tools
41:45 Org Chart Hiring Mindset
43:09 Quickfire Team And Culture
45:58 AI Models And Neuralink
51:51 Coffee Picks And Wrap Up
54:03 Portfolio Legacy Reflection

Lee Thompson discusses his two property businesses: Your Property Centre (sales, lettings and management across Greater Manchester) and Thompson Estates, a sister company focused solely on Tameside to build a community-based estate agency. He explains the strategy behind keeping Thompson Estates hyper-local, including plans to support a local Ashton hospice by donating a percentage of fees in the deceased person’s name, aiming to provide a more respectful, people-first service and improve the industry’s reputation.

The conversation covers managing properties at distance, why many landlords chase revenue, and Lee’s view that the Renters’ Rights Bill is being overhyped—arguing most processes already exist, with key changes around Section 21 removal and a shift to periodic tenancies. He also discusses tenant protections, slow eviction timelines, the tenant fee ban’s drawbacks, lead follow-up, marketing experiments, and lessons on business growth.

Chapters:
00:00 Meet Lee Thompson
02:49 Community First Model
03:19 Estate Agents Reputation
06:39 Managing Far Away Lets
08:19 Renters Reform Bill
11:59 Tenant Fees Debate
13:20 Do Tenants Have Too Much Power
16:09 Landlord Horror Story
19:04 Your Property Centre Explained
24:41 From KFC To Lettings
26:44 Acquisitions Versus Organic
33:50 Why A Baby Scan Clinic
34:43 Impulse Buying Mindset
34:58 Baby Scan Upsells
36:06 Follow Up Wins Deals
38:53 Marketing and Paid Ads
41:09 Upselling Existing Clients
44:42 Targeting Landlords Smartly
45:54 Building Apps With AI
54:12 Renter Reform Challenges
57:09 Rent Reviews and Renewals
01:00:08 Quick Fire Wrap Up
01:02:52 Final Thoughts and Contact

Ryan Bevan, co-founder of House to Home Supported Housing, explains how the CIC grew with steady organic growth to around 540 bed spaces and 98% occupancy, providing low-level supported accommodation and weekly in-person support to help residents build skills and move into their own tenancies and employment. He shares his background in finance, property acquisitions for supported accommodation, and HMO sales, and details House to Home’s landlord lease model (typically five years), benefits and responsibilities, and why “guaranteed” rent and 20-year leases are often misunderstood due to registered provider funding and legislative risk.

The conversation covers rising sector standards, Awaab’s Law on damp and mould response times, Article 4 planning restrictions, referral conversion challenges, the shortage of move-on housing, operational systems (Rematch and COHO), future hiring, and using tech to improve workflows.

Chapters:
00:00 Meet Ryan And House To Home
00:45 Early Career And Property Blueprint
06:32 Supported Housing Model Explained
07:36 Landlord Benefits And Real Risks
09:04 Raising Standards And Awaabs Law
13:00 Growth Plans Article 4 And Move On Homes
16:11 Move On Housing Crisis And Solutions
20:30 HMO Economics And Market Pressures
24:57 Why 20 Year Leases Fail
27:11 Biggest Challenges Referrals And Fit
28:17 Referrals Versus Move Ins
30:07 Gender Safety Considerations
31:18 Tenant Communication Systems
32:47 Improving Resident Community
34:17 Hiring For Scale
35:33 CRMs And Maintenance Tools
37:45 AI Built Workflow Ideas
41:45 Growth Pace And Operations
43:36 Business Risks And Moats
44:49 Founder Strengths And Partnership
47:37 Quick Fire Lessons
51:26 Coffee Picks And Wrap Up