Home Business Awards & Achievements Mancunian Entrepreneur Frazer Fearnhead, founder and CEO of The House Crowd, talks...

Mancunian Entrepreneur Frazer Fearnhead, founder and CEO of The House Crowd, talks to us about Changing Lanes

Describe your career progression.

I originally trained as a lawyer and worked in the music industry for a number of years. My heart wasn’t in it though, so I moved on to set up an artist/events business which did pretty well. The company was starting to grow and build its reputation when 9/11 happened. Over the course of those few weeks, every single client cancelled upcoming events. Of course this was completely understandable, but devastating for the company and I lost my enthusiasm after that.

I’d always invested in property in my spare time and, after some time in a business development role, I set up The Armchair Property Investor in 2005. I started from scratch but put in the work, and ended up selling the business for £2.25m in 2007.

After that, I left the property market for a few years, but realised it was picking up in 2010 and eventually launched The House Crowd, a UK property crowdfunding company which allows investors to buy shares in investment property. In March 2012, Five years on, we’ve raised over £50m from over 15,000 website members and paid out over £12m in returns.


What inspired you to change careers at the time that you did?

In 2010 I was inspired by crowdfunding companies such as Kickstarter and Crowdcube, to come up with the idea to cut out the banks and join like-minded people together to invest in property for mutual profit. At this point, the industry simply didn’t exist, so I drew on my legal experience to research and convince solicitors of its viability.

Does your new career reflect your passions and talents better than your previous career?

My career as a music industry lawyer was interesting, but I wasn’t passionate about it. I should have pursued entrepreneurial projects which excited me from an early age, but unfortunately felt the pressure to ‘get a proper job’ and follow what seemed to be a sensible route. Despite this career change coming later in life, setting up and growing The House Crowd continues to be the most rewarding, challenging and exciting period of my life.

What advice would you give to people over the age of 40 looking to change careers?

If you realise you’ve gone down a path that’s not right for you, it’s never too late to change, but it’s likely to be tough. As long as you have enough money to live off, spending your time doing something you find fulfilling is a much better way to spend your life than doing something you don’t like just for a bigger pay cheque.

I’ve recently been included in Vauxhall Motors and Management Today’s 40 over 40 list – a list of 40 people over the age of 40 who have decided to change careers. It’s flattering to be included on this list alongside such big names in UK business. I think it’s important for people to understand that a career change at any age is a possibility, as long as you have enough passion and drive. I’m very proud of how our company and the crowdfunding industry has grown over such a short period of time, and look forward to driving growth and innovation in the coming years.

To coincide with the launch of the new Insignia Grand Sport, Vauxhall Motors has partnered with Management Today to produce Changing Lanes – a report looking at trends of the UK workforce; find out more at http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/changinglanes

Visit www.vauxhall.co.uk/insignia to discover the stylish new flagship vehicle.

 More information on The House Crowd can be found at https://www.thehousecrowd.com/