From Selling to Managing: The Growth of a Franchise

Written by Acme Mag

Luton Properties has built a workplace that embraces a unified culture and attitude. The leadership team have moved the business away from its reputation as simply selling agents or business owners, to being known as an agency that cares deeply about not only its customers but its entire team too. The culture at Luton Properties encapsulates the way the business and everyone in it operates.

Luton Properties is the largest privately-owned real estate agency in Canberra, with over 100 agents and staff who offer a full range of real estate services across six offices. CEO Nick Paine chats with ACME Mag about how emphasising the workplace culture has helped support and elevate the entire franchise and everyone who works within it.

Two years ago, the business underwent significant restructuring, which had a notable effect on its culture. Now, the business has multiple owners: Justine Burke, Tim Burke and Craig Sheargold – as well as Richard Luton and Paine – which has diversified the leadership team to a great result.

“It’s more people who lead the way and set an example. We’ve also just added two new directors to the group and we’ll likely continue to open the door of ownership to people that live out our values and enrich our culture. I think this will hold us in great stead,” Paine says.

“We have five really clear values at Luton, and it really helps in getting everyone on the same page. I feel a workplace’s culture is the way things get done around here. With a really strong and positive culture, it has equaled incredible results for our people. We’ve put a focus on making Luton a great place to be, which has resulted in higher productivity.”

Although Luton is technically a franchise, the business’s strength has always come from operating as one big group. They constantly share resources and ideas across the six offices, as well as knowing everyone who works for the business lives out Luton’s beliefs and amplifies its culture. They celebrate everyone’s wins through awards evenings and also in real-time with an app called ‘Bonusly’. There is an emphasis on team engagement, and by shifting the focus to building the internal culture of the company, they are witnessing that not only are their people happier, but they’re also getting more from their job.

“I think the engagement of our people, especially recently, has been excellent. A lot of people comment to myself or the other directors about how great it is to come to work, how they feel, and just how they say thank you. They’re little things but they mean a lot. “It’s also great to hear from people that have come to us from other agencies about how different the environment feels at Luton.”

Since placing a higher priority on culture, the business has gone from strength to strength. The most noticeable change has been people’s willingness to chip in and get work done regardless of whether it’s their job or not.

“That change in teamwork has been a big thing. We’ve seen some really amazing people step up and progress from inside the business just through feeling more empowered and engaged in their work.”

Not only does fostering unifying values across an organisation promote happier staff and higher productivity, but the culture of a place also determines what happens when those in charge are out of the office.

“On top of being the CEO at Luton, I also run a few of our offices and still list and sell, so I can sometimes be spread a little thin. I can do this because the culture of success and pride in our work is so strong. We have great leaders across the board and our 100+ staff are fantastic. They have fun, they’re supported, they do high-quality work, they’re recognised for their good work and they love the team environment.”