Client Profiles: Grant Property
Jobs In Letting is looking at the property journey of Andrew Hutton in this series of Client Profiles. Andrew holds a position of the Director of Property Management & Letting at Grant Property.
Back to the start
When I was younger I did not have a clear direction on where I wanted to be or what I wanted to do. After school I went to college and did a Business IT course. I achieved the HNC but decided I just wanted to get out and work. At the time, I was working part time in the evenings at Scottish Provident and I then went full time completing insurance proposals (critical illness, death benefits etc.). Following redundancy, as the role was outsourced to India, I took on a 3 month temporary assignment at Scottish Water. Then I moved on to State Street Investment, where I was responsible for producing performance reports for Charity and Pension Funds. After 18 months I decided to take a short break as I didn’t feel it was an area I wanted to continue my career. I went to visit my friend who was staying and working in Luxembourg and after spending a few weeks with him I came back to Scotland with a renewed focus and motivation.
First steps in the property industry
Through a recruitment agent, I admittedly fell into the property industry on a 2 week assignment at Grant Management. If I am honest, it is not a sector I had considered previously and my intention was to complete the 2 weeks and then look elsewhere.
A big motivator for me is to make a real contribution and for my work to have an impact. At Grant Property each role has its own responsibility and importance, and therefore if you do a good job, it will make a key difference to the success of the business.
Turning point
My initial 2 weeks at Grant Property was extended, and then extended again – and before I knew it, I had progressed from a data entry clerk to handling utilities, to working in the ‘move ins’ department of Property Management with a permanent contract. Following a restructure, I was then promoted to Property Manager. This was a big moment for me in my career and I then very much realised this was the right industry for me. I felt I was good at my job, understood what was required, enjoyed the fast paced nature of the role, the responsibility as well as the opportunity to make things run better. I progressed to Assistant Manager within the Edinburgh team. An opportunity then came up to work with another company. Having at this stage worked for 6 years with Grant Property, I had not experienced the industry from a different perspective, I therefore felt that this was the right opportunity at the right time and decided to move.
I worked for the company, also well known in the industry for 8 months and without a doubt I learnt some new and valuable skills. This only strengthened my own opinions and knowledge of how certain things should and shouldn’t be dealt with.
Building a career in property
After the 8 months I got a call from Grant Property asking if I would return. I knew straight away in my gut that I wanted to. I felt Grant Property was the right company for me to further my career and believe their values marry up well with my own; I am ambitious and always want to improve and take things forward whilst ensuring it is done in the right way.
I returned to my role as Assistant Branch Manager and shortly after I was given the opportunity to progress to Branch Manager.
I have always been a competitive person with a will to win and succeed. I feel this mindset is well placed to be a manager in terms of motivating and driving a team on to continuously improve service levels. In a competitive industry such as the private rental sector I do not think this is a bad thing whatsoever. It is also a trait that I believe to be a success in any customer service sector and comes from within the individual; it cannot be given to them or learnt.
After continued improvements in service levels and performance, I was delighted to be given the opportunity to take on the role of overseeing the full portfolio under Property Management. I work with a lot of good people and I am very lucky to work with a very experienced Managing Director who has provided me with fantastic support, confidence and knowledge. I was promoted to Associate Director and this enabled me to ensure a consistency of service was adopted across all the cities in which we operated. At the end of last year I was then promoted to Director of Property Management. I recognise this comes with a lot of responsibility and I am just as passionate and motivated to continue our improvement of recent years. If you have the right attitude, desire and are willing to work hard, you will be provided in return with an opportunity to build a successful career. Grant Property is a great company to do so – trusted, innovative and knowledgeable – with opportunities in Sales/Lettings, Property Management, Investment, Renovations and Interiors.
