Challenge ahead

I started as a trainee negotiator at the Aylesbury office. A team of experienced and knowledgeable people taught me a lot about property and how to deal with people. Of course I had to make the tea and I seem to remember spending three weeks in the basement organising the Ordinance Survey Plans.

How much was in your first pay packet and what did you spend it on?

My annual starting salary was £750 a year. I probably spent most of my first month’s salary on petrol for my car.

Describe how your career developed to the present day.

While at Aylesbury I was promoted to senior negotiator. In 1980 I was made branch manager of High Wycombe and ran this for four years.

I was then made area director for the offices in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, and it was during this period that I opened offices in Banbury, Headington, Summertown, Cowley, Abingdon and Witney, in addition to the branches we already had at Thame and Bicester. In 1987 I was promoted to regional director and in 1990 I was made chief executive of Connells Residential. In 2000 I was made group chief executive and chairman in 2009.

What are the key responsibilities in your position?

I chair Connells Limited, the holding company for the Connells Group. Connells has a huge range of companies including estate agency, lettings, survey and valuation, conveyancing and mortgage services. We also have some business to business enterprises that we have developed over the last 15 to 20 years. Along with my senior colleagues, our responsibility is to make sure these businesses provide the best possible customer service available.

Describe a typical day Connells head office is in Leighton Buzzard and I probably spend three days a week there. At other times I am visiting businesses that we own throughout the UK. On a ‘normal’ day, I would leave home around 7.45am and return in the evening about 7pm.

Who/what have been the biggest influences on your career?

The biggest has been the people with whom I have worked. The strength of Connells throughout my time with the company has been the quality of people at every level within the business.

What has been your best decision?

My best decision has been to stay with Connells. Over the years I have been approached by numerous third party competitors to join them with promises that the grass would always be greener. I have resisted any temptation. I have been trained well and been given opportunities probably in advance of my abilities. I have been kept challenged and I have been well rewarded and recognised for success. Maybe I am just old-fashioned but I believe loyalty and commitment is something that is a reciprocal.

And your worst?

I chose a Fiat Strada as my first company car which was a disaster — I should have gone for the Vauxhall Cavalier!

Do you run an apprenticeship scheme and, if so, why?

We are an avid supporter of apprenticeship schemes and have already supported a number of individuals in completing nationally recognised qualifications while getting hands on experience in our branches.

What is the secret of good management?

Recruiting the right people, giving them the right training and development, offering career opportunities to those who deserve it and making staff feel valued and cherished.

Do you have a good work/life balance?

My father said to me many years ago that if you can’t get what needs to be done between the hours of 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday, then something is wrong. I have always found time for family and outside interests and recently became a governor of Headington Girls School which my three daughters attended.

What are the biggest challenges facing your business today?

Our biggest challenge today is the housing market and the wider economic influences on it. Since the credit crunch of 2008, the volume of UK housing transactions has halved and we have had to adjust how we operate accordingly. But where many other countries such as the United States and Spain have seen house price falls of up to 50 per cent, the UK market has largely recovered from the shock of 2008/2009.

Is there anything in business that really irritates you?

I occasionally get disappointed when people with talent and ability do not realise their full potential, particularly when this is through lack of application and hard work.

How do you see your company developing over the next five years?

We remain ambitious to grow both the quality and the breadth of our organisation. Geographically there are areas of the country we would like to expand into.

What has been your most satisfying moment?

Far too many to single out just one. Highlights include marrying Janet in 1980, being made chief executive in 1990 aged 31, the birth of my daughters, scoring 100 for Brill in the Bucks Final of the National Village Knock-out cricket competition and leading the Connells management buy out in 1996.

How much do you use social media and how effective is it?

Ours is a business that involves an interface with people and it is a mix of face-to-face, traditional and new media that is the way ahead.

What is your attitude to the environment and do you have any green policies in place?

We try to be environmentally friendly wherever possible from small gestures such as recycling paper and plastics to much larger initiatives. For example, we are currently rolling out a programme to replace old air conditioning systems containing R22 refrigerant gases with more environmentally friendly machines across 300 of our branches.

What do you do to motivate your workforce?

Financial incentivisation is a key part of our recipe for success. We believe in providing outstanding career opportunities for people within the business. Our preference is always to promote from within wherever we can and give additional responsibility to proven performers.

Is there any other job you would like to have done and why?

No, I am perfectly happy doing what I do now and what I have done in my career with Connells to date.

What would you like to do when you retire?

I suspect there will come a day when I have outlived my usefulness here but I will still retain business interests either with or without Connells and spend more time playing golf, watching cricket and doing the garden.

Name: Stephen Shipperley
Age: 54
Job:  Group executive chairman
Time in job: 35 years
Contact: 01525 218680
Web:www.connellsgroup.co.uk