James Varley spent a decade managing corporate communications for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Then he quit, bought a couple of holiday lets in Yorkshire, and built one of the fastest-growing media platforms in the short-term rentals space. In this episode, he walks us through how the STR market actually works: the platforms quietly controlling it, the regulations threatening to break it, and the branding playbooks of the operators quietly dominating it. He also talks honestly about what it takes to build a media business from scratch in a niche sector, why AI is about to reshape property management entirely, and what a decade in corporate comms taught him about cutting through the noise.

Guest: James Varley, Founder & CEO, Host Planet

Guest Socials: LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jdsvarley/

Sponsored by:

Avamore Capital

https://avamorecapital.com

#SpecialistFinance #PropertyFinance #BridgingFinance #DevelopmentFinance #SpecialistLending #Bridging #Development #Business #Leadership #Fintech #PropertyDevelopment #RealEstateFinance #BusinessStrategy #TeamBuilding #SalesLeadership #BrokerRelationships #PropertyFunding #LendingTechnology #AvaMoreCapital #CertaintyOfFunding

Chapters:

00:00:00 – What Is Host Planet

00:07:10 – From Qatar to Yorkshire: The Origin Story

00:14:00 – Direct Bookings and Platform Dependency

00:20:15 – BTL vs STR: The Real Numbers

00:25:50 – Scaling With Brand: The Beach Retreats Story

00:31:00 – Regulation, Licensing and the Community Tension

00:37:15 – Scotland, Wales and the Licensing Fallout

00:43:15 – AI, Agentic Tech and the Future of Property Management

00:52:15 – Building an Ecosystem: Content, Trust and Community

01:02:00 – What’s Next for Host Planet

Sam Hutchins is a specialist property finance advisor at Blueberry Specialist Lending and the founder of Fitness in Finance, an online coaching platform built specifically for people working in financial services. In this episode, Sam and Michael talk candidly about why the industry’s long-hours culture is quietly burning people out, what drove a 25-year-old broker to launch a fitness coaching business while still working full time, and what a healthier, sharper finance professional actually looks like in practice. From diet, alcohol and sleep to body dysmorphia, wearables and the increasingly divisive topic of weight-loss jabs, this one covers far more ground than your average finance podcast. Honest, practical and genuinely entertaining.

Guest: Sam Hutchins, Specialist Property Finance Advisor, Blueberry Specialist Lending

Guest Socials: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-hutchins-260917227/

Sponsored by:

Avamore Capital

https://avamorecapital.com

#SpecialistFinance #PropertyFinance #BridgingFinance #DevelopmentFinance #SpecialistLending #Bridging #Development #Business #Leadership #FitnessInFinance #MentalHealth #HealthAndWellbeing #FinanceLife #WorkplaceWellness #BrokerLife #PropertyFunding #AvamoreCapital #FitnessMotivation #SpecialistLending

Chapters:

00:00:00 - Intro and Sam’s Finance Career

00:06:00 - Office Life, Covid and Career Development

00:09:39 - The Birth of Fitness in Finance

00:15:00 - Credibility Without Qualifications

00:20:00 - Training, Nutrition and the Social Media Problem

00:26:00 - Alcohol, Motivation and What Actually Sticks

00:32:39 - Client Coaching and Working With Different Abilities

00:42:49 - Weight Loss Jabs, Steroids and Body Dysmorphia

00:49:27 - Mental Health, Sleep and the Social Side of Fitness

00:56:54 - Time Management, Business Crossover and What’s Next

Adam Butler, Director of Sales and Marketing at Avamore Capital, returns to the podcast to talk about the lender’s remarkable growth story – a 90% increase in volumes in H2 2025, driven by bespoke in-house tech, an expanded and increasingly diverse sales team, and a renewed commercial mindset. Adam unpacks Avamore’s £250 million lending target for the new financial year, explains how their new broker portal and DIP calculator are set to transform broker efficiency, and shares his take on certainty of funding, geographic expansion beyond the South-East, and why saying no the right way is sometimes the most powerful sales tool. Packed with insights on what makes deals progress well, how to compete with ‘hot lenders’, and why trust will always beat price in specialist finance.

Guest: Adam Butler, Director of Sales and Marketing, Avamore Capital

Guest Socials: LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-butler1/

Sponsored by:

Avamore Capital

https://avamorecapital.com

#SpecialistFinance #PropertyFinance #BridgingFinance #DevelopmentFinance #SpecialistLending #Bridging #Development #Business #Leadership #Fintech #PropertyDevelopment #RealEstateFinance #BusinessStrategy #TeamBuilding #SalesLeadership #BrokerRelationships #PropertyFunding #LendingTechnology #AvaMoreCapital #CertaintyOfFunding

Chapters:

00:00:00 – Intro and Adam’s Career Milestones at Avamore

00:07:40 – Building a Diverse, Knowledgeable Sales Team

00:11:54 – Lending Appetite and Core Products

00:19:07 – Geographic Expansion Beyond the South-East

00:24:26 – Market Dynamics and the Competitor Landscape

00:29:15 – The £250 Million Target

00:33:04 – Tech That Enables, Not Replaces

00:43:39 – What Makes a Deal Progress Well

00:52:52 – Staying Focused Amid Market Noise

01:02:15 – Scaling the Team and Career Advice