Estate Agency Leaders Podcast with Ian Preston

Ian Preston
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Estate Agency Leaders is the definitive real estate podcast for UK property professionals. Hosted by Ian Preston, this leadership podcast delivers honest conversations with forward-thinking agency owners and innovators. While other real estate agent podcasts focus on basic sales, we explore how elite leaders build culture, drive performance, and embrace CRM technology to stay ahead. From independent branches to national networks, get practical insights from those shaping the future of property. Join us and take your seat at the table with the people moving the industry forward.

  1. David Powell: Purpose, profit, and property, inside the 80 year legacy of Andrews

    May 20

    David Powell: Purpose, profit, and property, inside the 80 year legacy of Andrews

    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.

    43 min
  2. 28 seconds to success with Luke Somerset: How AI and speed are transforming the modern agency

    May 7

    28 seconds to success with Luke Somerset: How AI and speed are transforming the modern agency

    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.

    46 min
  3. Winning together: How the COO of Zoopla, Richard Hayes, evolved his leadership style

    Apr 29

    Winning together: How the COO of Zoopla, Richard Hayes, evolved his leadership style

    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.

    1h 18m
  4. James Evans: Elite performance, the evolution of Estate Agency, and the power of people

    Apr 1

    James Evans: Elite performance, the evolution of Estate Agency, and the power of people

    James Evans, an experienced business leader in the estate agency sector, shares insights on achieving elite performance by drawing on his extensive background at Foxtons and Douglas&Gordon. He emphasises the critical importance of resilience, a "growth mindset," and professional practice, noting that success often requires enduring significant rejection and mastering skills through repetitive, high-level training. James discusses the evolution of the UK property market and the shift toward a "platform business" model that combines strong branding and advanced technology with highly skilled, self-employed partners who focus on high-value human connections. Ultimately, he maintains that while technology and branding provide essential tools, the core of a successful business remains the quality of its people and their ability to build genuine psychological bonds with clients.

    54 min
  5. Peter Knight: Hunger, Humility, and the Modern Agent

    Mar 17

    Peter Knight: Hunger, Humility, and the Modern Agent

    In this podcast, industry veteran Peter Knight shares insights from his extensive career in the property sector, ranging from his early days as a driven estate agent in the 1980s to his current role as Creative Director at Leaders Inc.  He emphasises that while the industry has evolved, the core principle of estate agency remains the marketing appraisal, which he views as the critical moment where business is won or lost. Knight argues that modern agencies should focus on recruiting and training "elite" presenters who can effectively communicate value and differentiate themselves in an increasingly homogenized market where information is now freely available to consumers.  He advocates for a "revenue per listing" model, suggesting that high-quality listers who can command appropriate fees are essential for driving profitability and allowing agencies to pay their talent what they are worth. The discussion also delves into leadership philosophy, where Knight highlights the importance of balancing "hunger and humility," a trait he identifies in highly effective "Category 5" leaders.  Reflecting on his own career, including both the successful sale of his business Jackson Property Services and a costly failed venture in Spain, he stresses that past success is no guarantee of future performance and that arrogance can lead to poor decision-making.  His advice for business owners in 2026 is to adopt a leadership style that is involved at both the macro and micro levels—setting clear, ambitious goals while remaining diligent about the "little details" that impact the customer experience.

    51 min
  6. Neil McGimpsey - Disruptive Innovation: Foxtons, Druce & Lomond

    Mar 3

    Neil McGimpsey - Disruptive Innovation: Foxtons, Druce & Lomond

    Join the conversation with Neil McGimpsey as he discusses his career, beginning at Foxtons, through to its IPO, and the development of a strong, meritocratic culture within the company.  McGimpsey shares insights into how Foxtons maintained its fees as a "non-negotiable" and the resulting focus on value differentiation.  He also delves into the challenges and vision behind his role as CEO of the London-based business Druce, which aimed to be a genuine attempt at disruptive innovation in the property market.  Finally, he discusses his move to COO at Lomond, the challenges of large-scale aggregation, the role of technology in the property industry, and why compliance is the most important focus for agency owners in the current climate.

    33 min
  7. James Ankers: On the shocking truth about today's property market

    Feb 24

    James Ankers: On the shocking truth about today's property market

    In this weeks Estate Agency Leaders Podcast, we chat with with James Ankers, the visionary founder of the outsourced sales progression powerhouse, QuickChain! Prepare for a deep dive into the shocking truth about today's property market: why is the average transaction now a jaw-dropping 16 to 17 weeks? James Ankers calls this "insane". We uncover the core reasons for this agonizing delay, including the "plummeted" standard of conveyancing where many firms operate on a "pile it high, sell it cheap" model. The episode explores how a lack of vital "handholding" for buyers and sellers, and the late scheduling of surveys, are contributing to high rates of deals collapsing. Discover the critical mission for every estate agent: to dedicate serious time to "thoroughly" qualify every link in a property chain before the deal is celebrated. Finally, the discussion culminates with a powerful case for leveraging outsourced sales progression. James Ankers argues that for a business owner, it is far more profitable and less risky to outsource to a specialist team than to face the "fixed cost" of an in-house progressor, dealing with the inevitable crises of staff holidays, sickness, or sudden resignations. This is the essential guide to turning your property pipeline from a liability into a highly efficient, profit-generating asset!

    28 min
  8. Adam Day: On Hitting 900 Agents, the Purplebricks Effect, and Mindset

    Feb 10

    Adam Day: On Hitting 900 Agents, the Purplebricks Effect, and Mindset

    Join us for a dynamic conversation with Adam Day, the entrepreneur behind the UK's second online estate agent, Hatched, and the driving force behind the massive growth of EXP in the UK, which has just hit 900 agents.Day dives into his entrepreneurial journey, from selling cans of Coke as a kid to founding Hatched to solve cash flow issues by charging upfront fees. Discover why he sees Purplebricks’ deferred payment model as an "absolute game changer" and the industry's tipping point.Hear Day's candid thoughts on leadership—why he’s a visionary, not an integrator—and the core ingredients to EXP's success, including the crucial two-year experience requirement for agents and the power of rewarding agents through equity and revenue share.Finally, Day shares his prediction for the future: how agentic AI could eliminate the biggest challenge in the self-employed model and why his single piece of advice for independent estate agency owners in 2026 is to overcome the fear of failure and "just do it".

    31 min
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About

Estate Agency Leaders is the definitive real estate podcast for UK property professionals. Hosted by Ian Preston, this leadership podcast delivers honest conversations with forward-thinking agency owners and innovators. While other real estate agent podcasts focus on basic sales, we explore how elite leaders build culture, drive performance, and embrace CRM technology to stay ahead. From independent branches to national networks, get practical insights from those shaping the future of property. Join us and take your seat at the table with the people moving the industry forward.

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