Archive

First off, my own quick tribute to the Queen, who died on Thursday afternoon aged 96. Despite her age and declining...

PropTech supplier tmgroup is to hold a six-part webinar series called Achieving Change: Think tomorrow, act today. The webinars - from linked...

I have written this column for over four years. I started writing it at a time when no-one really knew anything...

The ‘future of residential’ is a huge term to contend with but one that was addressed last week through our RE:Connect...

It is the end of my column for another year, my 4th if I am not mistaken.  This year has seen a...

After you. No, after you. That is often how innovation seems amongst the real estate elite. And this week I see it...

A slight change to the normal column this week. I was very fortunate to be given the virtual floor at the...

I remember so clearly in my Foxtons days, working as a lettings manager in Putney, that lettings, though less sexy than...

I had a wry smile when I read the article on Monday from the conveyancers complaining about people getting off their...

Recently, when giving speeches, I have discussed investment trends and industry trends that the built environment is experiencing. They are quite...

I was giving an interview this week for an upcoming conference - yet another to convert from a physical to a...

For a mixture of reasons, I now only write this column every two weeks. At first, I missed the weekly consideration...

An overview of the global PropTech sector is often what I am asked to cover at conferences around the world. This generally...

I want to talk to you about new ways to sell homes. Let's not encourage people to sell but just swap...

Steve, his name was. Steve, the board man. A rather frightening man, if truth be told. When I started at Foxtons, he used...

With stamp duty cuts and 90% mortgages on their way back, anyone could think the housing market was about to go...

"New property website launches. Not immediately sure what it does differently, what its USP is or who will use it, but...

Tuesday mornings at 6am is usually my time to review all the latest PropTech news. This fires off ideas for my...

I was asked a question by a German journalist yesterday. What is the biggest lesson German and European PropTech founders can...

I recently read the news about Settled closing its doors. As of 6.29am on Tuesday morning, the article had been read by 8,642...

“A lot of people have learned that they can work at home, or that there’s other methods of conducting their business......

We are all operating in peculiar times. Times of great upheaval. Our lives are both in a complete state of flux...

On April 4, EAT published a piece titled: ‘It’s 2024: what will the industry look like, post corona-virus’. To me, this...

For complete transparency, I write this column first thing on a Tuesday morning and have done for a couple of years...

We live in uncertain times. That I do not need to say to anybody. I am writing this piece aboard my...

In the last few Natters I’ve focused on the slow death of local newspaper advertising, and how many agents are now...

What an interesting few days it’s been. I don’t think the topic of this week’s column is doing anything good for our...

This week I fly to Spain to present at a conference called Immotechnia. I am opening the conference with a 45-minute...

A book, written by Gary Kasparov, has really made me question my opinions on Artificial Intelligence (AI). The book is called...

“It appears conveyancers either aren’t too concerned with PropTech right now, or they don’t yet have all the information needed to...

Quite a few years ago, I spoke at a conference for auctioneers. It was a traditional affair. Rural location. Nice hotel....

“Give me 100 leads and I will make five-times more good appointments than any AI you put me up against,” stated...

I don’t want this to be a long piece. I want this to be short and sharp. I want it to...

2020, the start of a new decade. Looking back, 2010 feels like such a long time ago, and looking forward to...

“There won’t be a single home but millions of different homes”, is one quote.  “There will be an end to gadgets”, is...

Yes, you can promise yourself that you won't eat all the mince pies, or yet another roast potato, nor drink as...

Everyone thought John Bercow was short. It probably didn’t help that I was on stage just before him. 5ft 6 versus...

I got an overnight flight to Nigeria yesterday. I landed at 5am local time and am only just now getting sensation...

Last week, it was announced that Plentific, the London-based tenant experience, has raised $32 million in Series B funding. Plentific’s model sees...

KPMG published its Global PropTech Survey 2019 last week with the title: Is your digital future in the right hands? Interesting question:...

The controversial former Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, is to be the keynote speaker at a property industry...

This line is one that I use a lot in my speeches and presentations, often as part of the final slide. I...

I was shocked, not so long ago, by an out of office reply I received upon sending an email to a...

The founder of Rightmove and former Countrywide chief executive Harry Hill is one of a number of investors behind a new...

It was in this very column, back in July, when I wrote about how the British government was starting to take...

A few weeks ago, I came across a couple of really interesting articles which I immediately thought worth writing a piece...

I have been banging on about partnerships and collaborations for years now. Whether it’s between two real estate firms, two PropTech firms,...

I want to take the time this week to talk about PropTech startups and how they can often be seen to...

A story from America caught my eye this week. It’s about a company called Curbio partnering with another called The Keyes...

There are those who say that PropTech is at risk of becoming a bubble market, and others who say bubbles don’t...

I remember the day well; the day we all fell foul of addiction, the day our website was launched. Until then, at...

I suspect that at some time we have all rented an Airbnb (I am sitting on the couch of one as...

As real estate firms begin to execute their Q3 strategies and think more closely about Q4, there is one major question...

News this week tells of Zehomes, the German property management company, raising €13 million in Series-A funding, bringing its all-time total...

This week, you find me in Italy. Now that we’ve entered that languid month of August, where all of real estate...

Keller Williams continues to drive culture, mentality, and process transformation by partnering with DocuSign to enable electronic signatures. It’s another lesson in...

I feel I am in a fortunate position. I have been central to the PropTech movement for a number of years,...

The recent announcement of a clicktopurchase partnership demonstrates some much-needed progression from Rightmove. In doing so, however, it could be said it...

The PropTech era is changing the way in which employees decide where they are going to work. As CBRE has discovered in...

This week, I want to take a look at the Israeli startup, Venn, an urban revitalisation firm which has recently received...

I want to take the time this week to look at an area of PropTech and real estate which is seeing...

Facebook is set to enter the cryptocurrency business with the big reveal of its formal plans scheduled for some point this...

It’s London Tech Week, everybody! The sprawling city-wide event taking in dozens of conferences, events, workshops, panel debates and so on,...

“You say tomato, I say tomato” is a line in a famous film score way back in the 1937 film Shall...

One of my biggest concerns in all of my writing, speaking and influencing around PropTech is that for the people we...

Estate Agent Today has been named Property Trade Magazine of the Year 2019 at the annual Property Press Awards. It fought off...

We’ve reached the final instalment of my market transformation do’s and don’ts.  In previous articles, we’ve looked at: Do encourage, don’t deter;...

Whether you love or hate it, Purplebricks has undoubtedly left its mark since arriving on the scene in 2015 – much...

It was long awaited, much anticipated and, thankfully, incredibly well attended. FUTURE PropTech 2019 was a big hit and a truly global affair. For...

I hope you had another wonderful Bank Holiday weekend; only three weeks to hold on until the next one. Personally, it...

During our school days, most of us did that task where we imagined and drew the homes of the future, but...

My article last week has sparked some really great engagement, which I’m delighted about!  Thank you to everyone who commented or dropped...

It’s not often we can enjoy beautiful sunshine on bank holidays, but I suppose this one was a particularly blessed weekend,...

I am writing this as I reflect on a recent trip to Nigeria. I was asked to speak at the country’s...

By the time you read this article, I’ll be in Nigeria. My first ever visit to the continent of Africa. Sitting here...

Foxtons and Quintain have both recently made an important decision about their technological innovation, the same decision must also be made...

Whether it is legacy providers with new, young businesses, or large banks with PropTech startups, all types of cross-collaboration are vital. It’s...

This month’s MIPIM conference in Cannes once again played host to the final round of the much coveted MIPIM Startup Competition.  The...

An interesting debate has been sparked in PropTech this week. It started with an interview, published on YouTube, in which Kristjan Byfield...

A couple of weeks ago, SoftBank’s Vision Fund led a whopping $200 million investment injection into Clutter, the US-based on-demand storage...

No doubt we’ve all seen the recent Purplebricks news - shares have, according to the BBC, ‘plunged after it slashed its...

Interesting news this week from South Africa where the PropTech startup, Flow, has raised R20m in the country’s 'biggest PropTech seed...

At the end of January the Asian PropTech company PropertyGuru announced the imminent launch of beta-phase testing of its cutting-edge new product, PropertyGuru Lens. This...

By thinking outside the box, agents can truly embrace the idea of space-as-a-service and create entirely new, and highly valuable, streams...

If Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is as sophisticated as they say, Porter Pioneers’ launch could leave agents kicking their feet.  Those of...

“Estate Agents must be suffering from supplier fatigue. Where do you even begin? Most agents haven’t got the time.” So started the...

It’s time to think about planning the 2019 events calendar. This year, there are more PropTech conferences scheduled than ever before,...

Today sees the launch of Unissu, a platform which has classified over 6,000 PropTech businesses in a bid to offer estate...

For my final EAT contribution of 2018, I’ve put together a list of Christmas gifts that you could buy your PropTech-loving...

It’s that time of year again where we start saying goodbye to 12 months of hard work and start looking forward...

In his keynote speech at the recent Negotiator Conference, Professor Andrew Baum sparked debate throughout the property industry. Baum’s speech, which began...

I’m spending a lot of time in airport terminals waiting for flights. They’re not the most comfortable of surroundings, but at...

I remember renting flats when I was a 25-year-old negotiator at Foxtons. Many of you will remember my love for the...

This won’t be a long article. Just to the point and hopefully with a nice angle to it.  I get asked at...

I am currently in the back of a taxi. The deadline for this piece is looming and I am desperate to...

Not so long ago, the best estate agents were those who did the best work for their clients and therefore built...

The last couple of weeks’ articles were penned very much for a specific agent readership, something I am trying to be...

When Professor Andrew Baum’s PropTech 3.0 report was first published, a small event was held to celebrate the very first academic...

Last week, the first of a new kind of industry event took place; an open debate between agents and PropTech suppliers. Strong...

I am a patient man; a pacifist. Yet there is little in life right now that would satisfy me more than...