Track record

I started my career by training as a chartered accountant, but my real goal was something more entrepreneurial and with that in mind I joined the cosmetics brand Lush when they had only 12 stores in the UK.  Working for Lush in those days was all-hands-on-deck and running their UK retail business often included working through the night to get new shops open.  After 4 years and a second business education, serendipity led me to Connells, where I spend 10 years learning from some of the smartest people in Estate Agency. 

Over 10 years, Connells grew their branches fourfold and profits by even more than that. We were early investors in Rightmove and later repeated that with a stake in Zoopla. I observed estate agency at the front line and led the way with Connells M&A:  It was the defining part of my career. 

Whilst at Connells I had become friends with and admired Rob Sendall who had very successfully built Live into a £2m profit business before selling it to First Title. On leaving Connells in 2012 I persuaded Rob to let me invest in his next venture, Lifetime Legal, and during its start-up phase I worked full time alongside Rob. 

Working in a start-up was really hard and as much as I want to be an entrepreneur, this period made me realise that I am a best as a non-exec director. Notwithstanding that, my next step was back into estate agency as CEO of LSL’s estate agency followed by Group CEO at Leaders Romans. 

Turning 50 in 2017 made me realise that I could choose how to spend the rest of my career and so I am now working with a handful of businesses as an advisor.  Having flexibility in my life allowed me to step in as interim CEO when Gary Barker left Reapit last summer although I have now returned to my advisory roles.

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