May 2023 sees Michael Day of Integra Property Services celebrate 20 years since he set up the business that now has an impressive client bank of over 1350 property industry clients.
Michael, who had previously held Director and Partner positions at Connells and their subsidiary Conveyancing Direct and who was at A C Frost & Company and Prudential Property Services before that, set the business up in 2003 having completed an MBA at Reading University that he says acted as a catalyst for change.
Michael says” In 2000 I had completed a 30,000 word research dissertation on the internet and its effect on estate agency. This was a huge piece of research that effectively “predicted” many of the changes we have seen in the industry since – for example, the arrival of online and self-employed broker style agents, the dominance of the portals and the emergence of AI and ability to transact digitally.
When I undertook the research, Rightmove had only just launched, many agents didn’t have their own websites and email usage was in its infancy. It has been interesting to see much of what was investigated by my research develop into reality.”
The last twenty years have seen Michael and Integra establish themselves as a highly regarded provider of business consultancy services, mentoring and training across the industry and they have won many awards (three ESTAS, three EA Masters and a Negotiator Award) as a supplier and provider of professional support.
As a trusted adviser, Michael has helped many agency clients set up and grow their businesses successfully and, in many cases, secure hugely successful exits at significant financial multiples.
Michael has remained close to Proptech developments during this time, becoming a non-executive director and investor at teclet (now part of OnTheMarket) and is a currently a member of the advisory board of blockchain business Coadjute.
He is well known as a trainer and speaker on sales, lettings, management and compliance matters and is passionate about improving the home buying process. He is a member of the Home Buying & Selling Group, the Risk and Compliance Group facilitated by Thirdfort and is an accredited trainer for Propertymark.
In June he will be part of a panel of speakers at the Propertymark One event at Wembley.
In 2020 Michael became one of the founder members of the estate agency charity Agents Together and has personally mentored over a dozen mentees through the organisation since its inception.
Reflecting back on the last twenty years he added: ”One of the few constants in life is change and, whilst we may not be able to change the wind, we can adjust our sails. Planning is key as it helps create a framework to enable us to recognise the need to adopt, adapt and improve.
Estate agency is still, at its heart, a people business and I have always believed that, as Zig Ziglar perfectly described, you can achieve anything you want in life if you just help enough other people achieve what they want.
Technology can certainly help with the “heavy lifting” and help enhance the consumer experience but it is the empathy, understanding and interpersonal skills that set aside the great from the ordinary. Improving the personal development of those within the industry remains a key objective.
Finally, I have been in the property industry for over forty-seven years (I started when I was three!) and it has served me well. I like to think that I have served it well in return.
Whilst I still have much more to offer and to achieve, I would like to take this significant anniversary as an opportunity to thank my family for their support on the journey so far, my clients for the trust they have placed in me and all of my wider circle of contacts across the industry for their friendship.”