Learning at Work Week takes place from 15 to 21 May 2023 and is a unique annual event to promote lifelong learning at work, this year’s theme is 'Create the Future'. We caught up with one of our partners, Matthew Allen, Head of our National Country Agency Team (NCAT), to explore how his career started at Fisher German and where he sees us in the future.
Matthew joined us almost twenty years ago after his placement year selling farms with one of our competitors. He joined Clayson Haselwood Fisher German who then became Fisher German. We asked Matthew how his lifelong learning at work helped him develop personally and professionally and whether he has achieved his important life and work goals.
Do you think the growth we have seen at Fisher German has brought new challenges for us as a business?
I think having been here for many years, I have seen a huge amount of change and I see the biggest challenge is us not becoming another corporate business. Our strong partner-led and employee welfare ethos hopefully mitigates this whilst allowing us to take advantage of the cross-selling and social benefits of a larger business.
What do you think is the secret to our success?
My role has continued to adapt and change since I joined which has hopefully played to my strengths during my journey. Being one of the first graduates, I have consistently evolved my role from a rural surveyor to the specialist selling agent I am today. I have pretty much done every job possible along the way ranging from dealing with compensation schemes on the A43 upgrade to completion of subsidy forms as well as writing Red Book Valuations. Life today incorporates all of these skills learnt along the way in the sale of country houses, farms and complex estates. My advice to anyone is to always work hard and be honest with yourself and your line manager about what you enjoy. It is important to identify what you do and don’t enjoy and what needs to be done to make you the best you can be. You must decide what most excites you about your job and what gets you up in the morning, this should fit nicely with the flexibility that Fisher German can offer.
We get a lot of repeat business, what do you think we are doing right?
I think building good contacts is important and fundamentally doing the job to the best of your ability. I have met a lot of people along the way and always tried to treat everybody the same. Never judge a book by its cover! It is most satisfying when a client you sold a property to several years ago comes back to you and asks you to sell it again when they decide to move on. I think our success is ultimately down to our people, we have a huge range of experts across the business.
Where do you see us in the future?
A good question. We have grown dramatically in terms of personnel, offices, and turnover in the last few years. I think we need a period of consolidation to enable us to reinforce what we do well and make sure we have the right people doing the right job at the right price to make sure we continue to be profitable.
What is the best thing about your role?
As always, you are at the mercy of the wider property market and inevitably there will be some challenges along the way. Every day is interesting and different, you never know if that next phone call might be an invite to pitch for a cracking country house or decent farm to sell. I am very lucky to have seen, valued and sold an amazing variety of properties over the years.
Given your experience, what have been the most enjoyable things you have done and why?
I have enjoyed the people I have worked with and line managed. There is nothing more satisfying than having a slick, high-functioning, happy team around you who all support each other in what we are trying to achieve as a business, and as individuals too.
What do the next 12 months have in store for you?
Professionally, I hope that we have a decent property market over the next 12 months and plenty of good property to sell. On a personal note, there is always plenty going on, my wife is the Managing Director of a large veterinary business, and we have two very active boys, I am keen to have a lot of fun along the way. I am looking forward to a road trip this summer to see my in-laws in Southern France.
When you were a child what did you want to be?
I love my sport, so I suppose I always wanted to be a professional cricketer or similar when I grew up. I spent quite a bit of my childhood showing my parents herd of pedigree beef shorthorn cattle which were pretty rare at the time. I suppose I still hanker a dream that if I won the lottery, I would buy a small farm and have a herd of my own.
What do we need to be future-fit?
I think sharing the vast amounts of knowledge within the business with those who are just joining us as graduates is the key to our future success. The younger generations are our future; they can benefit from what we have learnt over the years, but they can also be instrumental in teaching us about the future and helping us to be more financially resilient and sustainable. Together we must focus on understanding sustainability, from sustainable living to sustainable environments and organisational practices.
It is important to highlight opportunities to learn and develop at work and make the pathways to jobs and careers at all levels and areas easy to navigate within your organisation. My whole career has been with Fisher German, and I have been supported to develop my career right from the start. Sharing our career paths and encouraging early career schemes such as our Insight Programme, apprenticeship, placement, and graduate schemes will ensure we have the right people, doing the right job who are positive about the future.
