Davinia Hamilton-Maddox – Owner of Animal Direction
Britain’s Pets have got talent too
And Davinia Hamilton Maddox of Animal Direction knows how to cast them.
Ryan Hughes – Mr Investa
Mr Investa is a tech-savvy property company for national and international investors based in MediaCity. Founder, Ryan Hughes specialises in buying and selling only buy to let property and considers tenants an important part of the process.
As a child, Ryan and his family experienced first-hand the unsettling reality of not owning a permanent home. He said: “I come from a background where my family rented their home and have experienced situations where our landlord has decided to sell the property. I’ve seen it disrupt the lives of many family and friends. At least once a month someone I know posts on social media that they are looking for a new place to live because their house or flat is being sold by their landlord.”
“It really doesn’t have to be like that and that’s where our point of difference lies. We care about continuity and community, so, for example, people with kids don’t have to uproot them from school which can cause a negative impact on a young person’s mental health. Moving house is stressful and not many people realise that renting your home can make you feel powerless. We explain to investors the benefits of having a reliable tenant with a good track record already living in the property.”
Looking after the tenant is one of our core values and which sets us apart from local, high street and online estate agents who don’t really care about the tenant in the property and just want to get the sale done. We’re showing our investors that there is another way.
Born and raised in Salford, Ryan started working on refurbishing properties at just 15, labouring, painting and decorating Salford student homes. By the time he was 19, Ryan was working for the largest private landlord in Manchester managing a property portfolio with a value of around £15 million.
“Although I didn’t go to university, my boss Mick was my mentor and far from telling me what to do, I was given the freedom and responsibility to make decisions and they trusted me. This was incredibly powerful and I’ve learned a lot through making my own way in the world.
“For my first construction build in Salford, I oversaw the development of 15 apartments scaling up to 45 units on Trafford Road. The opportunity then arose to create an asset disposal arm for a large off-plan buy to let company, selling off-plan property to investors all over the world which is where I gained some invaluable experience.”
Ryan has built his business through his ability to network and find solutions. He loves sharing his knowledge and experience with his clients and just 15 months since founding Mr Investa, Ryan is already operating internationally and regularly travels to overseas investor shows.
“65% of our business is based oversees, Asia the UAE, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong which is where our VR technology, adopted as a result of being based at MediaCity, has come into its own.”
Technology has transformed the way Ryan markets his properties with MediaCity playing an important role in carving a technology-enabled niche for the company.
Ryan firmly believes Mr Investa has the competitive edge as far as marketing and facilitating the process of buying buy to let property. He explains: “Video and live ecommerce is going to be one of the biggest opportunities in the buy to let sector. We love to do live stream tours of properties for investors, this is so easy and provides 100% transparency. Videos and photographs can tell one story, but with a 3D tour there’s no hiding the condition of a property. This service has led to us working with sports athletes and TV personalities because it offers privacy. They can simply put on VR headset and take a virtual tour around the properties.
“We offer this service in the fantastic immersive labs here at MediaCity. We have recently introduced metatags into our tours, so when a client enters a virtual property, they can click on a wall and it will display how much the tenant pays, how much the letting fee is, service charge, ground rent, freehold or leasehold etc. Alternatively, we can chrome cast to the clients TV and guide them round the property that way.
“MediaCity is the tech hub of Europe and together with support from Peel it has been a game changer for our business. For example, we are the only company I know who offers an online hub where you can manage the entire process, even make an offer direct to the seller. Once accepted, buyers can pay a reservation fee and start the conveyancing.”
Ryan says he always wanted to be based here in MediaCity and feels like it’s a natural home for his burgeoning business.
I’ve spent many times walking down by the Quayside with my grandad watching the ships come in. As I saw the Quays develop and later when MediaCity came along, I just knew I wanted to be part of it and made sense being so close to where I was born and raised. It feels like home from home and the community here is warm and inviting. Being around such visionaries and creatives here at MediaCity is inspiring and we’re flourishing.
https://www.mrinvesta.com/
Related Tales from the City
Lucie Grech – Owner of The Laser Lounge
“I wanted the business to be close to home but in a beautiful area that is easily accessible for clients and MediaCity was the perfect location.”
Andy Waters – dock10
“People want to know how we created a place that lives and breathes media content.”
Zoe Watson – Curator at The Lowry
“I’m looking forward to making connections and working with the creative community here. It’s a really exciting time and I know by working together we can reach out to even more people in the locality and beyond.”