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

Today we interview Aston Haslam - A 28-year-old Manchester-based property investor discusses his background in e-commerce and building a property portfolio focused on social housing and supported living, plus his property community, the Members Club. He explains how the problems of not knowing what’s happening inside managed properties led to creating DAXOME, a hardware-and-software platform using in-home sensors, CCTV and AI to monitor humidity, safety and behavioural patterns, trigger alerts, and help prevent issues like damp and mold, leaks, and excessive heating use.

The episode covers DAXOME’s rollout in around 15 houses, plans for streamlined installation and manufacturing, the target market of social and supported living providers, pricing (about £900+ install and £50/month), scaling challenges around installation cost and grants, bootstrapping with a sweat-equity build, and the founders’ goal to sell the company within 3 to 5 years.

Chapters:
00:00 Meet the Founder
00:44 Property Pain Points
02:46 What DAXOME Does
04:08 Alerts and Compliance
06:28 Five Year Exit Plan
07:39 AI Bubble and Moats
09:02 Launch and Testing
10:51 Hardware Scaling Vision
13:04 Target Market and Niching
14:35 Pricing and Revenue Model
18:32 Bootstrapping and Team
21:09 Private Resi Use Cases
24:26 How the Partners Met
26:04 Three Partner Skill Split
27:55 Why Partners Beat Solo
29:51 Fast Decisions Need Balance
31:52 Two Growth Needle Movers
32:19 Grants And Install Costs
33:30 Personal Brand Awareness
36:09 Scaling Installs With Vans
39:47 Funding Strategy And Order Book
41:46 Quickfire Lessons And Wrap