What do you currently do?
I am the CEO of Leeds based property investment business Emerging Real Estate. We source and sell investment properties across the UK and globally for our clients.
What is your inspiration in the business?
My personal inspiration is to become a respected name in the industry, both locally and nationally and to have an engaged group of investors who are happy to recommend us to their friends and associates.
Who do you admire?
For a multitude of reasons I really admire Chris Evans. Chris is a man who displays many entrepreneurial characteristics who, despite being advised against it, spent almost his entire fortune buying Virgin Radio for £85m. This potentially disastrous move transpired into an amazing business deal. Chris possesses both resilience and emotional intelligence, being able to effectively engage with people of all ages from all walks of life. His latest success at Radio 2 has come as no surprise to me.
Looking back are there things you would have done differently?
I would have accepted an offer to buy one of my previous businesses when an interested party made an excellent offer a few years ago. From this experience I have learnt that as well as knowing when to start a business – it is important to know when to exit when the time is right.
What defines your way of doing business?
Integrity underpins all of my actions in business, a characteristic that permeates our entire organisation. This is something that is very important in an industry like ours where buyers really need to know who they can trust. It is also very vital to have a real belief in the products we sell and the markets we enter, so we always conduct thorough due diligence before taking an opportunity to our clients.
What advice would you give to someone starting out?
The first piece of advice is to make sure you have a product or service that people want because although you may see a gap in the market, it doesn’t necessarily mean that there is a market in the gap. I would also advise an individual to be tenacious and, despite what others may say – never give up on your dream.
