He Taught AI at University, Then Built a Property Empire From Scratch

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 centres and sports stadiums with the agency buyers and corporate bookers they simply cannot access on their own. He also runs a consultancy helping venues build the sales culture they should have had all along. In this episode, Barry shares: * What a distressed property actually looks, feels and smells like the moment you walk through the door * Why the belief that if you build it they will come is quietly destroying venues across the UK * The dangerous gap between working in a business and working on it, and why most owners never bridge it * Why hospitality is in the toughest trading environment he has ever seen, worse than 2008 * The real cost of employing someone in 2026 and what it is doing to the mid-market * Where AI genuinely belongs in the sales process and exactly where human beings still have to take over This is a conversation about uncomfortable truths, the state of an industry that is trying to pretend nothing has changed, and what it actually takes to build a sales culture that survives the pressure. If you work in hospitality, events or venues, or are running a service business in one of the toughest markets in a generation, this one is essential listening. ---------------------------------------- Connect with Barry Clark: 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/barryclarkmih [https://www.linkedin.com/in/barryclarkmih] 🔗 Events Plus: https://www.linkedin.com/company/eventsplusvenuesales [https://www.linkedin.com/company/eventsplusvenuesales] ---------------------------------------- About The Growth Diary After a career as a professional windsurfer on the World Tour, I've spent over a decade building and scaling businesses across property, technology, and marketing. Through The Growth Diary, I'm on a mission to spotlight the real stories behind successful business growth, what works, what doesn't, and how leaders stay sharp while building something remarkable. 🎙️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheGrowthDiaryPodcast [https://www.youtube.com/@TheGrowthDiaryPodcast] 🎙️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4xRw4dfe3u1LYqja07KgTg?si=b32ae294d09c4b1c [https://open.spotify.com/show/4xRw4dfe3u1LYqja07KgTg?si=b32ae294d09c4b1c] 🎙️ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1865496376 [https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1865496376]

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 something different. Lucas now helps investors design portfolios that function as capital engines, not just collections of properties, where every asset has a job, capital moves with purpose, and the next move is always built into the structure of the last one. In this episode, Lucas shares: * Why the advice gap in property investment is structural, not personal * What the quiet stall is, why so many portfolios suffer from it, and why nobody notices until it's too late * Why yield is not a strategy and what questions investors should actually be asking * How expected value thinking changes every property decision before a single asset is selected * Why most investors inherit their buying criteria from the wrong places * What capital architecture actually means and why it is fundamentally different to just owning properties This is a conversation about thinking clearly before you buy, understanding the system behind the opportunity, and building a portfolio that creates its own momentum rather than quietly consuming it. If you invest in property, are thinking about starting, or are wondering why your portfolio feels stuck despite doing everything right, this one is essential listening. ---------------------------------------- Connect with Lucas James: 🌐 www.lucasjames.co.uk [http://www.lucasjames.co.uk] 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/company/lucas-james-property-advisors [https://www.linkedin.com/company/lucas-james-property-advisors] ---------------------------------------- About The Growth Diary After a career as a professional windsurfer on the World Tour, I've spent over a decade building and scaling businesses across property, technology, and marketing. Through The Growth Diary, I'm on a mission to spotlight the real stories behind successful business growth, what works, what doesn't, and how leaders stay sharp while building something remarkable. 🎙️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheGrowthDiaryPodcast [https://www.youtube.com/@TheGrowthDiaryPodcast] 🎙️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4xRw4dfe3u1LYqja07KgTg?si=b32ae294d09c4b1c [https://open.spotify.com/show/4xRw4dfe3u1LYqja07KgTg?si=b32ae294d09c4b1c] 🎙️ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1865496376 [https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1865496376]

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 show; Homes Under the Hammer. Then completed a government-funded AI project with Salford University to help property developers convert commercial buildings into residential units using generative AI. Today he runs Anzar Property Group, a deliberately focused Manchester-only, families-only buy to let portfolio, built on a simple but disciplined model of buying, renovating, tenanting and refinancing. In this episode, Nasser shares: * Why a stable academic career was not enough and what made him go all in on property * The buy to let model he has refined over nearly two decades and why he has never strayed from it * What Homes Under the Hammer did for his profile and what it accidentally did to auction room competition * How his AI background is now being applied directly to property development and conversion * Why he believes family business models have a unique advantage and a unique tension * What the next chapter looks like as commercial to residential conversion moves centre stage This is a conversation about intellectual curiosity meeting entrepreneurial ambition, and what happens when someone who genuinely understands AI decides to build a property business around it. If you are in property, interested in where AI is actually going in the real estate world, or building a business around deep specialist knowledge, this one is for you. ---------------------------------------- 🔗 Connect with Nasser Abouzakhar: 🌐 www.anzar.co.uk [http://www.anzar.co.uk] 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/nasser-abouzakhar-64878a60 [https://www.linkedin.com/in/nasser-abouzakhar-64878a60] ---------------------------------------- About The Growth Diary After a career as a professional windsurfer on the World Tour, I've spent over a decade building and scaling businesses across property, technology, and marketing. Through The Growth Diary, I'm on a mission to spotlight the real stories behind successful business growth, what works, what doesn't, and how leaders stay sharp while building something remarkable. 🎙️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheGrowthDiaryPodcast [https://www.youtube.com/@TheGrowthDiaryPodcast] 🎙️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4xRw4dfe3u1LYqja07KgTg?si=b32ae294d09c4b1c [https://open.spotify.com/show/4xRw4dfe3u1LYqja07KgTg?si=b32ae294d09c4b1c] 🎙️ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1865496376 [https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1865496376]

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 agency, holds the title of top agent for Riviera Travel across the UK and Ireland, and has created one of the most talked about solo travel communities for women in the country, Wendy's Wanderers, with over 1,200 members and trips running back to back across the globe. In this episode, Wendy shares: * Why she took redundancy and never looked back after two decades on the high street * How she chose which village to move to specifically because of how it would grow her business * The origin of Wendy's Wanderers and why it accidentally became a national movement * What the current travel market really looks like and how she is holding her own while others are down 20% * Why her clients book years in advance and what that says about the value of trust * Where she sees AI fitting into the business and what she still needs to figure out This is a conversation about backing yourself when the paycheque disappears, building a business on reputation rather than budget, and why the travel agent is far from dead. If you are building a service business on loyalty and word of mouth, or simply love the idea of adventure without the hassle, this one is for you. ---------------------------------------- 🔗 Connect with Wendy Haines: 🌐 www.wendyhainestravel.co.uk [http://www.wendyhainestravel.co.uk] 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/plantwendy [https://www.linkedin.com/in/plantwendy] ---------------------------------------- About The Growth Diary After a career as a professional windsurfer on the World Tour, I've spent over a decade building and scaling businesses across property, technology, and marketing. Through The Growth Diary, I'm on a mission to spotlight the real stories behind successful business growth, what works, what doesn't, and how leaders stay sharp while building something remarkable. 🎙️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheGrowthDiaryPodcast [https://www.youtube.com/@TheGrowthDiaryPodcast] 🎙️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4xRw4dfe3u1LYqja07KgTg?si=b32ae294d09c4b1c [https://open.spotify.com/show/4xRw4dfe3u1LYqja07KgTg?si=b32ae294d09c4b1c] 🎙️ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1865496376 [https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1865496376]

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 models in the industry, and it was built entirely from the ground up. In this episode, Ravi shares: * Why he walked away from law and went all in on property from scratch * How controlling the full life cycle of a development de-risks everything * What it means to be a lender who has actually been on the tools and run the sites * Why he stripped his team back post-COVID and became more productive with less * His vision for floating the business and building a serious loan book * The one thing he believes most people in property consistently get wrong This is a conversation about backing yourself when you have nothing, building a business around people rather than process, and why focusing on execution rather than rewards is the only way to build something that lasts. If you are in property, construction, or development finance, or simply building something from the ground up with no safety net, this one is for you. ---------------------------------------- 🔗 Connect with Ravi Jheeta: 🌐 www.kayalandmarks.co.uk [http://www.kayalandmarks.co.uk] ---------------------------------------- About The Growth Diary After a career as a professional windsurfer on the World Tour, I've spent over a decade building and scaling businesses across property, technology, and marketing. Through The Growth Diary, I'm on a mission to spotlight the real stories behind successful business growth, what works, what doesn't, and how leaders stay sharp while building something remarkable. 🎙️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheGrowthDiaryPodcast [https://www.youtube.com/@TheGrowthDiaryPodcast] 🎙️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4xRw4dfe3u1LYqja07KgTg?si=b32ae294d09c4b1c [https://open.spotify.com/show/4xRw4dfe3u1LYqja07KgTg?si=b32ae294d09c4b1c] 🎙️ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1865496376 [https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1865496376]