The Difficult Second Office: When Growth Gets Real

Opening your first estate agency is brave.

Opening your second is something else entirely.

In this episode, I sit down with Pete Courtis, owner of The Mather Partnership in Helston and Hayle, to talk about what really happens when you decide to expand.

We cover the part no one talks about.

The empty office.
The six month wait for income.
The recruitment mistakes.
The second guessing.
The cost of Rightmove before you’ve banked a single pound.

Pete bought his original business at 27 on a seller finance deal. He ran sales and lettings. He sold the lettings department, calling it both his worst financial decision and his best lifestyle decision. He rebuilt after losing key team members to a competitor.

But this episode centres on the difficult second office.

What it takes emotionally.
What it costs financially.
Why it rarely performs in year one.
And how to structure it so it doesn’t quietly damage your main branch.

We also dig into culture, recruitment, AI, and why average estate agents might struggle in the years ahead.

If you are thinking about opening another branch, this conversation might save you a lot of stress.

Growth sounds glamorous.

The second office is where it gets real.