The Viking Chats: navigating the choppy waters of property, technology and business

In this electric episode of The Viking Chats, Kristjan Byfield is joined by none other than Neil Cobbold—industry heavyweight, tech evangelist, landlord, Drum & Bass DJ, and true rock superfan—to unpack what’s really going on behind the scenes in UK lettings, PropTech, and beyond.

You might know Neil as the Managing Director of Reapit, or from his long tenure as the voice of PayProp. But in true Viking Chats fashion, we go way d...

In this unmissable episode of The Viking Chats, Kristjan Byfield sits down with Mark McCorrie—founder of Made Snappy 360 and the innovator behind the integration tool GlueDog—for a no-holds-barred deep dive into the tangled, chaotic, and often comical world of PropTech in the UK property industry.

If you've ever felt frustrated by the sheer number of logins, dashboards, and disconnected systems in your daily agency life—you are...

In this episode of The Viking Chats, Kristjan Byfield sits down with the brilliantly unfiltered Ben Madden—Principal Director at Fine & Country, founder of Digital Sparks, and all-around champion for doing estate agency differently.

Titled “The Unfiltered Agent: Ben Madden on Authenticity, Leadership, and Agency Without the Fluff”, this episode is a straight-talking deep dive into what’s broken, what’s working, and what the futu...

In this episode of The Viking Chats, Kristjan Byfield is joined by the powerhouse behind Liberty Blue, Regina Mangan, for a vibrant and unfiltered discussion that every forward-thinking letting and estate agency leader needs to hear.

Titled “It’s Not a Secret: Why the Best Letting Agents Share Everything”, this episode dives headfirst into one of the industry’s most overlooked superpowers: collaboration. In a sector where many still...

In this razor-sharp episode of The Viking Chats, Kristjan Byfield sits down with one of PropTech’s original pioneers—Mal McCallion—to unpack the message every UK letting agent, estate agent and landlord needs to hear:

AI isn’t coming. It’s already here.

And if you’re not on board? You’re at risk of being left behind.

🧠 From PrimeLocation to Prophetic Predictions

With 24+ years in property and tech, Mal’s résumé reads like a PropTech h...

In this special anniversary edition of The Viking Chats, Kristjan is joined by his "work wife" and Base Property (and The Depositary) co-founder An Deckers to celebrate a huge milestone—21 years of running one of London’s most distinctive and award-winning independent lettings agencies.

Expect laughter, honesty, a little nostalgia, and a masterclass in how to build a values-led business that puts people first—from tenants ...

In this powerful episode of The Viking Chats, Kristjan Byfield is joined by the sharp, funny, and endlessly insightful Toby Martin—a former agent turned consultant who’s on a mission to help agencies thrive in a tech-powered world.

This episode isn’t just about AI—it’s about how you, your team, and your business can stay ahead of the curve, remain unmistakably human, and stop sounding like every other agent in town.

🚀 AI: The New In...

In this episode of The Viking Chats, Kristjan Byfield welcomes Nick Lyons, founder of No Letting Go and Kaptur Software, to dive deep into the evolution of the inventory sector—and how technology, AI, and data are reshaping it for agents, landlords, and property managers across the UK.

🚀 From early dictaphones and manually edited Word docs to a national franchise network processing 10,000 reports a month and a platform producing 30...

Hold onto your helmets, Vikings — in this latest voyage across the turbulent seas of property, technology and business, Kristjan Byfield welcomes a true industry legend (or should we say lovable rogue?): Simon Whale, known for his time at Reapit, his antics with Kerfuffle, and for generally causing "productive chaos" in the world of PropTech and estate agency.

In this epic chat, Kristjan and Simon dive deep into the fast-e...

In this powerhouse episode of Viking Chat, industry trailblazer Kristjan Byfield sits down with Tim Frome, legal and compliance heavyweight from Hamilton Fraser, for a deep dive into the ever-evolving landscape of the private rented sector (PRS). Buckle up for a fast-paced, insight-rich ride through the trends, tensions, and tectonic shifts affecting agents, landlords, and tenants alike.

Tim unpacks Hamilton Fraser’s 2024 annual rep...

Are you stuck in a loop of “free valuations”, “stunning homes”, and “professional photography”? Do your marketing materials look suspiciously like your competitors’? Then buckle up, because this episode of Viking Chat might just blow the doors off your agency's entire approach to branding.

This week, Kristjan Byfield – industry troublemaker and Base Property founder – is joined by the ever-creative Tom Durrant, CEO of DCTR (for...

In this engaging episode of The Viking Chats, Kristjan Byfield—co-founder of The Depositary and self-proclaimed industry innovator—sits down with the brilliant Vicky Bibiris, Managing Director at award-winning agency Location Location, to explore one of the most underappreciated yet transformative elements of running a successful agency: process.

Let’s face it—“process” doesn’t always sound exciting. But as Kristjan and Vicky reveal...

In this powerful first episode of our new conversation series, Kristjan Byfield—co-founder of The Depositary & base property specilaists—sits down with Sian Metcalfe, Operations Director at Inventory Base, to unpack a fascinating and timely question: Can property technology (PropTech) actually help estate agents become more human?

Too often, PropTech is dismissed as cold or impersonal—seen as a digital wedge between agents and t...