I was born in to humble beginnings in the Summer of 1970. My Mother worked as a factory hand for 42 years and my Father toiled as miner all his life. Aged 13, I was forced to leave school to join Dad in the mines and help bring some much needed income to my family. It was a tough existence all round back in those days.

That's how these stories always seem to start but in reality I can't claim to have had any such hardship. My hugely supportive parents gave my younger brother and I a proper and loving start in life from our comfortable family home in Hitchin, Hertfordshire.

My family weren't money motivated or risk takers by nature so I've never quite worked out what sparked my levels of ambition but from a fairly early age they surfaced. I loved competition. It remains my biggest motivation. Growing up it was fueled by sport. I loved my football, snooker, cricket, golf, you name it but more than the sport itself I loved the winning. To this day I'm a horrible loser, I don't care if its Tiddlywinks we're playing I will want to win.

My working life began with a brief dalliance in the world of leisure at Squash and Snooker clubs before a change of location saw me stumble upon new friends who introduced me to the idea of Mortgage Broking.

Being sat permanently behind a desk churning out pretty repetitive information wasn't for me long term but I did enjoy meeting new people and the sales process. The broking business gave me an eye in to Estate Agency and while the reputation of the industry was a definite negative, I personally found the environment challenging, rewarding, entertaining and diverse. Plus I got a car in my package.

I started in Estate Agency as a Negotiator with a North London firm in 1991. My love of competition and will to win has served me well in the business. I'd found the perfect platform to compete be it against my own colleagues, sister branches or of course other competitors. However, in an industry where many get carried away with the rewards rather than the process, my upbringing served me well. I had a serious hard work ethic, a genuine desire to do a good job for clients, proper manners and courtesy and a high level of diplomacy that were not traits normally associated with estate agents. These helped me stand out from the crowd.

By 1993 I had established a reputation that got me approached by an ambitious Enfield based practice asking me to manage one of their two offices. Eighteen months later I was joining them as a Partner and opening a third office in Cheshunt. The decade that followed was a great adventure as we developed the business from 2 branches to 8 and established Letting, Surveying and Mortgage Arms alongside the core business.

Unfortunately, disagreements between us surfaced in 2004/5 and the fall out resulted in me leaving the Partnership and establishing Imagine, on my own, in April 2006.

The name was the suggestion of a good friend. I'd wanted a single word and one that, unlike most agents, bore no relation to my own name but rather had an emotion attached to it. Imagine seemed to fit the bill.

The first year was desperately tough. I hardly knew a single road name, I'd only been to Watford once in my life prior to considering opening here and didn't know a single person living here. All I believed was that the town had space for an agency of the type I envisaged. Don't get me wrong, I'd done loads of research before I opened, it's just as cold start up businesses go this one was truly arctic.

By our second year though the fruits of the previous 12 months efforts had started to pay dividends. I had amassed a fabulous team of staff (see the relevant page) who shared my goal of seeing Imagine as the Number One Sales and Letting agent in Watford.

My journey to this point has taught me many things. I truly believe that this fabulous country offers opportunity to those prepared to be brave and back themselves. I've learnt no to get too carried away with the good times and not to get too down at the bad ones. I've met people whose love and kindness are an inspiration and others whose love and kindness exists if it serves them a purpose. I've discovered that greed overrides moral back bone but that lack of ambition can be equally frustrating. Few people achieve their full potential, in fact few even try.

Imagine is me trying to make the very most of the opportunities I've been presented with and the skills and knowledge I have acquired.

To be continued...