Joe Catcheside grew up in the north west of England. He went from a state comprehensive school to study English Literature at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. After a spell teaching English in Japan, he joined the commercial conference sector in 1994, writing business to business events for the telecommunications, leisure and pharmaceutical sectors.

In 1997, with this partner Melinda Fonda, he created a conference and marketing consultancy business, Masswick Ltd, which still operates today. Joe and Melinda began building a property portfolio, and by 2005 decided to create their own estate agency business, having perceived the operation of estate agency to be poorly served.

That company, Underhill Real Estate Agents, quickly grew to 5 offices and to profitability, but then the rug was pulled from beneath them by the 2008 crash. A tough decade followed, as the business contracted but then recovered. The business was eventually sold in three parts, the sales operations to the sales manager, and two separate property rosters to two different agency buyers.

Joe has been part of the Progressive community since 2018, on top of his 16 years in agency and 27 years as a property investor. He owns and controls R2SA properties, standard single lets, and properties let to supported living Care Providers. He’s currently creating training materials teaching property investors how to build relationships with estate agents, both for the domestic and international investment market.

Aside from property, Joe is a qualified Rugby League and Athletics coach, and has been the Director of Rugby for the University of Exeter Rugby League team since 2008. He plays cricket occasionally, and is a keen student of history. He and Melinda have two children; Robert studies Business Management at the University of Sussex; Polly is a college music student, and the lead singer of a rock band.