This year’s theme, ‘Dare to Win’, is all about embracing risk and change to thrive in today’s fast-moving industry. Hosted by Alex Jones of BBC’s The One Show, alongside long-time EA Masters host Lucia Fox, the 2024 conference promises to be more dynamic than ever.
This year’s Conference takes on an engaging new format, resembling a TV chat show. Expect sofa-style interviews with industry leaders, interactive audience sessions, film clips, and four impactful keynote presentations on topics crucial to the future of estate agencies.
We received 237 replies from agency leaders to the question:
What are the biggest issues you’re facing in your business right now?
Based on their answers, the EA Masters Leadership Conference will address these issues, highlight real examples of how agents are overcoming them, and identify specific actions that can be taken immediately.
Alex Jones
Co-host of the BBC’s flagship show The One Show since 2010, Alex Jones is one of the UK’s best-loved presenters. Alex has fronted several programmes for the BBC such as Shop Well For Less, Let’s Dance For Comic Relief, and the Invictus Games. She has hosted her own critically acclaimed documentary, Alex Jones – Fertility and Me, and was a part of the BBC team that covered the Royal Wedding in 2018. Alongside her TV work, Alex authored the best-selling baby book, Winging It, based on her own personal experiences and works actively alongside a number of charities. Most recently, Alex fronted two new series: Reunion Hotel for BBC Two and Alex Jones – Making Babies for the W Channel.
Lucia Fox
Lucia is a familiar face at EA Masters, having hosted the event and its predecessor the Estate & Letting Agency of the Year Awards for over a decade. Her career has taken her all over the world, presenting for Eurosport, ITV, Formula One Digital, various Sky channels, and many other broadcast, corporate and commercial clients. She has been associated with Property for many years – presenting Property Question Time for Property TV in addition to announcing the award winners at the Property Industry’s most prestigious awards event.
Lessons from the Special Forces
We’re excited to welcome Jason “Foxy” Fox, HM Special Forces veteran and star of SAS: Who Dares Wins. Foxy will share invaluable insights from his book Embrace the Chaos, offering over 50 strategies for overcoming challenges.
Jason Fox is a former Royal Marine Commando and Special Forces Sergeant, serving in the Special Boat Service for over 20 years.
Jason is co-host of Channel 4’s award-winning show ‘SAS: Who Dares Wins’ as well as co-host of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test’ on FOX TV in the US.
Jason is a presenter and producer of critically acclaimed Channel 4 and Netflix documentaries, including ‘Inside the Real Narcos’ and ‘Return to Afghanistan’.
He is the author of Sunday Times bestselling books ‘Battle Scars’ and ‘Life Under Fire’ and Jason’s third bak
OnTheMarket keynote and update.
Jason Tebb, President of OnTheMarket, will share the incredible milestones OTM has reached in just under 12 months since being acquired by CoStar.
Jason started his career at Foxtons, working his way up from trainee negotiator, valuer, branch manager and ultimately Divisional Manager for the business, before taking a role as Area Director for Chestertons. Following this, he was appointed Regional Managing Director for LSL property services PLC, one of the largest estate agent chains in the UK. In 2013 he launched, scaled and subsequently exited his own boutique estate agency business and became Chief Operating Officer of Ultimate Holdings, a portfolio of businesses in the property development and finance sector. In December 2020, Jason was appointed as Chief Executive of OnTheMarket PLC.
CXX5.0
Danielle Nash, MD of Property Academy, will set out why the conference is titled “Dare to Win” by explaining how we’ve entered the fifth era of Customer Expectation and Experience and why this new period requires bravery, significant change, and above all, decisive action.
With a wealth of experience in learning and development, Danielle has been instrumental in shaping the operations of Property Academy, where she now serves as Managing Director, having worked her way up from receptionist. Her dedication to excellence and her keen understanding of effective organisational strategy make her a driving force behind Property Academy’s success. Drawing on her extensive knowledge of all areas of the business, Danielle leads the team to deliver the impactful programmes Property Academy is known for, ensuring each project is executed with precision and care. Her goal is always the same: to bring people and ideas together to achieve something great.
FFS!
Katy Billany, Executive Director of TwentyEA, will show how the real Facts and Figures can be used to create compelling stories for estate agents to use to attract more sellers and landlords.
With an unwavering passion for the property market, Katy makes a real difference and brings a great deal of value to the industry. She’s a sought-after data expert and it is little wonder why she is in such demand. Katy has banked over 17 years of experience in the property market data sector and in her role as Executive Director of TwentyEA. She is committed to helping agents leverage data to expand their businesses. TwentyEA tracks the whole property market, capturing 99.6% of all residential listings in real time. It offers a suite of tools to help agents expand their market share, generate leads, convert appraisals, and justify higher fees. The company has also developed an AI tool that accurately predicts properties likely to come to market, streamlining the prospecting process for agents. When she’s not leading her team or supporting agents, Katy leverages her experience as a speaker and commentator, sharing her insights with the wider industry.
Project 28
Simon Brown, CEO of Landmark Information Group, will share the progress being made to reduce the average time for exchange of contracts from 28 weeks to 28 days. Simon will be joined by Mark Ross of Redbrik and Phillip Bishop of Perry Bishop, owners of two very different agencies that are both making considerable headway into the massive issue of swollen pipelines, delayed cashflow, and excessive progression costs.
Mark Ross: I have always been deeply passionate about the property industry, which inspired me to co-found Redbrik, where I serve as Managing Director. Throughout my career, I have been committed to continuous learning, particularly in marketing, public relations, relationship building, and enhancing the home-moving experience. As Managing Director, my focus is on cultivating a team culture centred on delivering exceptional customer service. We are dedicated to providing each client with a personalised, professional experience that meets and exceeds expectations. One of the most rewarding aspects of my role is working alongside a talented and driven team that shares this vision.
Phillip Bishop is the MD of Perry Bishop a multi discipline , 25 year old property business in the Cotswolds with the strapline of ‘ Property Made Personal ‘. They are very proud to have over 2500 5 star reviews and enjoy 40% of their business coming from past clients and recommendations with the aim to balance great service and exceed expectations with the constant desire to keep moving the business forward.
Simon Brown is CEO of Landmark Information Group. He has a wealth of experience in telecommunications and technology sectors in both large corporate and VC-backed companies. Having held senior executive and board positions, Simon has achieved high growth and market leadership for a wide variety of global businesses including Nokia, Followap, Movirtu, ip.access and Telsis. Simon is also a co-founder of Relmatech, a world leader in the provision of drone ID and tracking technology.
Business models – which is best?
Gareth Samples, CEO of TPFG, John Ennis COO of Lomond Group, and Ian Preston, CEO of Preston Baker, will discuss the merits of the many different business models to help you identify the best one for your business.
With over 38 years’ industry experience, Gareth Samples brings a wealth of Estate Agency, Lettings, Financial Services and digital marketing knowledge to The Property Franchise Group (TPFG). Gareth joined TPFG in February 2020 and became CEO on 30 April 2020. As CEO of TPFG, Gareth has overseen significant growth of the business acquiring Hunters Estate Agency in 2021, and more recently Belvoir Group followed by The Guild and Fine & Country in the first 6 months of 2024. The combined group now operates 18 recognised brands across 1900+ locations including 65 international locations making it the largest estate and lettings agent in the UK.
Ian Preston is the founder of Preston Baker, Richard Roberts and Greenhouse OS and has diversified his business to reduce headcount by half whilst increasing the size of the business following his high skill / high tech strategy. He will share his advice for thinking radically about how you can derisk and grow at the same time.
John Ennis is Chief Revenue Officer at Lomond and an industry specialist with 25 years experience in M&A, sales, lettings, and in the New Homes & Investment markets. Having spent over two decades at Foxtons, where his last role was MD of Central London and New Homes. Post Foxtons, John was the CEO of Chestertons Global Ltd, one of the oldest and most recognised estate agencies with offices across the world. He successfully managed the sale of the business at the end of 2023 having grown profits and EBITDA, improving productivity numbers and revenues per property as well as improving staff engagement and key retention metrics. As a Board Member of CLEA (Central London Estate Agents) and a Non-Executive Director of LonRes, John has formed exceptional relationships with other CEO’s and Heads of Residential of many of the UK’s largest agency brands and is one of the most connected people in the industry.
Automation First
William Reeve, CEO of Goodlord, Heather Staff, co-founder Street Group, and Alex Rhodes, MD of Greenhouse OS, will explain why automation is now the default first option to consider for all estate agency business processes.
Alex Rhodes has been working with estate agents on the Salesforce platform for 10 years. He was the CTO at Preston Baker and drove significant business transformation from 2020-2023. From there, Alex and Ian Preston from Preston Baker decided to launch Greenhouse OS, to make Salesforce accessible to estate and letting agents.
Heather Staff is the co-founder of Street Group, one of the UK’s fastest growing proptech companies, supplying over 4,000 estate agents with CRM and marketing software. Prior to co-founding Street Group, Heather was an Associate Director in KPMG’s Global Turnaround team, working with some of the world’s best known brands to achieve performance improvement. Voted 16th Best Tech Company to Work for in the UK, Street Group is passionately committed to building technology that optimises and enhances the moving experience for both agents and consumers.
William Reeve is the CEO of Goodlord, the UK’s leading online platform for residential lettings professionals supporting over 1 million tenants, landlords and letting agents in the UK each year.
Prior to taking the helm as CEO, William co-founded Fletcher Research, LOVEFiLM.com and Secret Escapes. He has also held NED roles at various other businesses including Nutmeg, Paddy Power PLC, Graze and Zoopla, and currently sits on the board of Dunelm PLC.
Outsource it!
If it can’t be automated, then outsourcing to experts is delivering a far better ROI for many agents than employing more people. Joanna Knight OBE, CEO of Moneypenny, and Richard Megson, MD of Complete ASAP share how much outsourcing has developed.
As Group CEO of Moneypenny, Joanna Knight OBE is a driver of business growth, leader of empowering passionate people, champion of creating stronger communities and supporter of business leaders.
Joanna’s ascent from Moneypenny’s first salesperson to CEO is a testament to her unparalleled success and leadership. Under her guidance, the company has flourished into a workforce of over 1,000 and propelled Moneypenny’s commercial expansion across all sectors, including professional services, high-end luxury and US markets. This success is marked by her vision of the perfect marriage of outstanding people skills with pioneering advancement in tech.
Richard Megson is the Managing Director of Complete ASAP Ltd, a UK-based sales progression business that supports hundreds of Estate Agents, Auction Houses and Mortgage Brokers speed up property transactions through a unique outsourced service.
Richard has a wealth of experience in the industry, having worked in searches, conveyancing, property investment, and estate agency which gives him a unique insight into the sector and has been beneficial in refining the Complete ASAP offering over the past decade to provide a seamless property transaction process.
New Business:
New business is the lifeblood for every agency, and it’s increasingly more competitive to win. Stella Nicol of Spectre, Toby Howd of Pattinson Auctions, and Colby Short of Get Agent share how their businesses are helping agents to gain a disproportionately higher market share of new business than their competitors.
Colby Short
Co-Founder and CEO at GetAgent
Stella Nicol
With an illustrious 14-year career in the property industry before moving into the world of PropTech, Stella has played an integral role in shaping the commercial operations of Street Group from its very early days as a business. Her deep passion for excellence, paired with an insightful understanding of the ever-evolving property landscape, positions her as a key player in driving success. Drawing on her extensive experience, Stella’s day to day role is leading commercial teams at Street Group to deliver the exceptional customer experience the company has become known for. She works closely with agents to maximise the potential of both Spectre and Street, ensuring that once they join the platforms, there’s no turning back.
Toby Howd is Operations Manager at Pattinson Auction, a leading UK property auction house offering a white labelled auction service to Estate Agents throughout the UK. During a 30 year career in the property industry, Toby has experience in Estate Agency , Proptech and Auctions. Toby plays a pivotal role in overseeing the daily functions and processes that keep the company running efficiently. He ensures seamless coordination across departments, optimizing both internal workflows and external client interactions.
Innovation & Improvement
Peter Knight will share the top 25 Innovations and Improvements of 2024 will be revealed along with the winners of the EA Masters Innovation and Improvement Awards, sponsored by Landmark Information group.
Peter Knight is an international business speaker, Non-Executive Director of property related businesses including GoodLord and estate agency coach, as well as the founder of Property Academy – a business development company and producers of EA Masters and Best Estate Agent Guide Awards. He chairs regular leadership group meetings for estate agency business owners and owners of businesses that supply services to estate agents to help them to design and implement a strategy to achieve profitable growth and maximise business value.