The Growth Diary
The Growth Diary is hosted by Keith Atkinson, an entrepreneur and founder of Scailr, an AI and automation agency. The show features conversations with founders, operators, and business owners about the real work of growing a business. Each episode explores behind-the-scenes decisions, mistakes, hard-earned lessons, and the thinking behind long-term success. It focuses on unfiltered growth journeys rather than polished success stories, emphasizing clarity, perspective, and learning in public.
Episodes
The Blueprint Nobody Teaches: How One Woman Built a Premium Construction Empire on Reputation Alone
Claudia Hearne studied English linguistics, worked in PR, and had no plans whatsoever to go into construction. Then a family tragedy changed everything. She went to work for her parents, spent five years learning the business from the ground up, and in 2018 walked away to start something entirely her own.Hearne House now delivers high-end residential renovations across London, from Grade II listed
60 Years Inside Construction and rewrote the rulebook - with Richard Saxon
Richard Saxon CBE spent nearly 40 years at BDP, one of the world's leading interdisciplinary design practices, eventually becoming its chairman. Then he spent the next two decades trying to drag an entire industry into the digital age, whether it wanted to come or not.He was the UK Government's BIM Ambassador for Growth, helped mandate building information modelling across public sector constructi
Made Redundant With Two Kids at Home — So He Built a Thriving Estate Agency From Scratch
It was 2010. The worst recession since the Second World War. Tom Williams had just been made redundant, had two young children at home and had just spent six figures on a house extension. He had no backing, no investment and no safety net.So he built an office in his back garden, leaflet dropped 8,000 homes, and started Find A Home Online before most people had even heard of the online agency mode
The Hospitality Industry Is in a Perfect Storm — And Most Venues Still Don't Know It
Barry Clark has spent nearly 40 years in hospitality. He has walked into distressed properties, turned them around, rebuilt sales cultures from scratch, and watched the industry stumble through crisis after crisis. He has seen what kills a venue from the inside and he is not shy about saying it out loud.Today he runs Events Plus, an outsourced corporate sales service connecting hotels, conference
He Saw How the Property Industry Really Works — Then Built Something at the Complete Opposite End
Lucas James spent years on the inside of the off-plan property sector. He saw how advice was shaped, not by what was best for the investor, but by what could be packaged, financed and sold at volume. He saw incentive structures quietly guiding recommendations. And he saw portfolios that looked fine on paper but were structurally stalling their owners year after year.So he walked away and built som
He Taught AI at University, Then Built a Property Empire From Scratch
Nasser Abouzakhar spent years in academia teaching AI and cybersecurity, writing research papers, supervising students and publishing books. It was intellectually rewarding. It just wasn't enough.So he started buying properties on the side. Then more. Then moved his entire family from Watford to Manchester to be closer to the business. He went on to win AI Champion of the Year and appeared on TV s
She Took Her Redundancy Cheque, Ran and Built One of the UK's Most Loved Travel Businesses
When Wendy Haines was handed her redundancy after 20 years in a job, she didn't hesitate; She took the cheque, ran, and built something entirely her own.What followed was over a decade of grinding, networking, working behind a pub bar just to meet locals, and slowly building a client base that now books holidays two and three years in advance. Today Wendy runs an award-winning independent travel a
He Picked Up a Toolbox and Built One of London's Most Impressive Property Businesses
Ravi Jheeta didn't finish his law degree. He picked up a toolbox instead.Twenty years later, starting from nothing and coming from humble beginnings, he has built Kaya Landmarks into a full turnkey London property development business, controlling everything from land acquisition through to construction, delivery and now development finance through his own lending arm. It is one of the rarer model
30 Years Selling Vending Machines — Then He Quit and Started Again From Scratch
Jason Boull spent three decades in a family business. He was first in the office, last out, working evenings, weekends, constantly. When he finally found a gap in the diary to book a family holiday, the travel agent never called him back. He never rebooked. He never went.That one missed phone call stayed with him. Years later, when he finally walked away from the family business, it became the see
She Went on a Gap Year, Got on a Sailing Yacht, and Never Came Back - Lucy Jackson
Lucy Jackson went on a gap year after graduating from Imperial College with a first class degree. She got on a racing yacht. That was 2009. What followed was 100,000 miles at sea, a life built entirely on the water, and eventually the world's leading racing yacht charter company.LV Yachting matches private yacht owners with individuals and teams who want to race at the world's most prestigious reg
Don't Be Fooled By the Numbers — What You Can't See Will Hurt You - with Lee Driscoll at Rougemont
Lee Driscoll didn't take the conventional route. He studied surveying, spent a decade trading futures in London and corporate bonds in Milan, then came back to the UK in his thirties with a very deliberate plan, and eventually co-founded a practice that punches well above its weight.Rougemont Property Consultants is an intentionally lean, director-led firm advising some of the biggest names in com
The Dirty Secret Nobody in Property Will Say Out Loud — Until Now - with Patsy Irwin-Brown
Every buyer thinks their estate agent is on their side. They're not.Patsy Irwin-Brown spent 15 years on the inside of London's property industry, overseeing thousands of transactions, and watched buyers get left out in the cold time and time again. The agent is contracted by the seller. The solicitors are overwhelmed. Nobody is in your corner. And nobody was willing to say it out loud until Patsy
The Woman the Ultra-Wealthy Call When No One Else Can Be Trusted
Sonia Felfli spotted the same problem everywhere she looked: people were being treated like a booking number.That frustration became the foundation for Savoir Vivre Lifestyle, a boutique luxury villa rental, private events, and lifestyle management company operating across Mykonos and Ibiza. Her clientele are ultra-high-net-worth individuals who expect total discretion, bespoke service, and someon
How Jack Dawson Turned a Trowel Into the UK's Biggest Bricklaying Event
Jack Dawson didn't come from a boardroom. He came from a building site.Starting work alongside his dad at age four, competing as a natural bodybuilder, and eventually landing in a teaching role at the same FE college where he trained, Jack's path has always been shaped by craft, discipline, and a deep love for the trade. Then in 2022, an idea sparked that would change the construction industry's r
How Matt Hughes Helps Hotel Owners Make Better Decisions
How Matt Hughes Helps Hotel Owners Make Better DecisionsIn this episode, Keith is joined by Matt Hughes, CEO and Founder of Accommodate Consulting. After more than 20 years at Marriott International, most recently as Vice President of Owner Strategy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Matt stepped away from one of the world's biggest hospitality brands to build something entirely his own.They
People Over Property: How Charley Hall Is Rebuilding What a Letting Agent Should Be
Charley Hall didn't set out to run a property agency. She set out to fix one.After years in corporate customer service, working with clients like Shell and Co-op, and then experiencing first-hand what poor agency management actually costs a landlord, she and her husband decided to build something better. Mocha Property Management launched in Liverpool three years ago with a simple but non-negotiab
How Hospitality Tech Is Broken And How We're Fixing It - With Luke Ireland
Luke Ireland is the co-founder and CEO of Creventa, the event management platform quietly powering some of the biggest names in UK hospitality, including every major hotel chain running events in the country, over a dozen Premier League football clubs, and cricket venues. In this episode, Luke breaks down how he and co-founder Andrew built Creventa from a scrappy pandemic QR code project into an e
Ultra Luxury: Gregory Patrick's DreamMaker Blueprint for Serving the World's Most Exclusive Clients
Gregory Patrick didn't build a travel company. He built a dream factory.For nearly four decades, Gregory has been crafting once-in-a-lifetime experiences for the world's most accomplished people, from private castle buyouts in Scotland to 48-seat private airliners flying groups to destinations most people can't even find on a map.It started with a newspaper article about a struggling Texas rancher
Built in Crisis: How Raja Naveed Turned Lockdown Into a Multi-Million Pound Construction Firm
During lockdown, Raja Naveed resigned from a stable nine-year career in financial services and launched a construction business from his kitchen table.With no revenue for nine months, a newborn on the way, and the Green Homes Grant scheme collapsing mid-delivery, EEH Solutions was built under extreme pressure. What followed was rapid growth, regulatory chaos, scaling mistakes, hospitalisation with
The Psychology Behind Home Staging, And Why It Works - with Natasha Collier
Natasha Collier started Dressing Rooms Home Staging straight out of university, originally as a practical move alongside property investing. What began as a “makes sense” idea turned into a business she genuinely loves, and a service that’s quietly changing how properties sell across the North of the UK.In this conversation, Natasha breaks down what home staging really does beyond cushions and art
Building A Service Accommodation Business Without Losing Control with David Leighton
Service accommodation looks simple from the outside. List a property, get bookings, collect profit.But behind the scenes it is a 24 hour, high pressure, and can be a noisy business where one missed message can trigger bad reviews, lost ranking, and a constant feeling that you are on call.In this episode, David Leighton, founder of Honest Apartments, breaks down what it actually takes to run a succ
Turning Ocean Plastic Into Homes with Johnny Mateparae
Construction is one of the hardest industries to change, especially after Grenfell. But Johnny Mateparae is building a completely new way to create walls that are fire safe, fast to install, and made from recycled plastic and textile waste.After a moment on his boat in Liverpool’s Albert Dock, where ocean plastic destroyed his holiday and jammed his prop, Johnny decided he couldn’t ignore the prob
The Truth About Real Estate Agencies with Georgina Henfrey
Most people think estate agency is glamour, fast commissions, and a quick sale.Georgina Henfrey says that’s fantasy, and the real job is pressure, process, psychology, and dealing with 50 moving parts at once.In this episode of The Growth Diary, Georgina, co-founder of Kestrel Estates, breaks down why she walked away from the corporate estate agency machine, and what she built instead. A people-fi
The Housing System Is Failing And No One Is Talking About It - with Marko Hozjan
In this episode of The Growth Diary, Keith Atkinson is joined by Marko Hozjan, co-founder and CEO of Lynxcraft, a construction technology company using AI to fundamentally change how homes are designed, planned, and built.Marko shares how Lynxcraft was born from a simple but radical idea: modern homes should be treated like products, not one-off prototypes. Drawing parallels with industries like a
Why Architecture Is A Beautiful Career, But A Brutal Business - with Amadeo Bassi
In this episode of The Growth Diary, Keith Atkinson sits down with Amadeo Bassi, founder of ABDS, an architecture-led practice operating across design, coordination, planning, tendering, and development management.Amadeo shares his journey from studying architecture to building an independent, multidisciplinary practice. He speaks candidly about the realities of coordinating complex projects, mana
