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Martin was born in the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific to British parents who were both teachers, an undoubted influence on his desire to pass on knowledge and make a difference.

Competitive sports have always held a strong attraction for and he's turned his hand to many including tennis, badminton, football, mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding and pool with mixed success. Racquet sports have always been his strongest suit and his greatest claim to fame is having met Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer after one of their classic Wimbledon finals battles. He also has a passion for motorsport.

As an experienced entrepreneur and property investor, Martin is creative, charismatic and indomitably positive in his outlook. He's experienced many of the highs and lows of business and property investment over the years and remains a passionate advocate of small businesses and private investment.

Martin has built numerous businesses from scratch and helped to establish and grow many more for friends and family. After graduating with a BSc in Business Computing, he set up, grew and sold his first technology business. He then developed a substantial high-yield portfolio of houses rented out to young professionals around Canary Wharf. Nice Group - a fast growing property development and management group - soon followed, as did two substantial joint ventures with large fund managers. After establishing portfolios of more than £150m (yielding more than 10% gross), Martin and his business partners sold 25% of the business for £7.5m in mid-2007.

Unfortunately the boom turned to bust during the credit crunch and personal guarantees on company loans led to his personal bankruptcy - although it should be noted the portfolios themselves are still performing very well. Martin is now combining his experience with funds, technology and value investment to deploy an exciting new marketing strategy for Inspired (www.inspiredassets.co.uk).

Martin is engaged to Magdalena and helping her to grow her investment portfolio, as well as a London-based lettings business (www.stepnowski.co.uk) and a property development company (www.shapecapital.com). Magdalena is currently pregnant with their first child and will be due in April 2010.

"My core skills are in innovating, marketing and connecting people particularly within property, investment and technology. My specialist subject is London residential houses in multiple occupation (HMO's) - so if my knowledge in any of these areas can help you please don't hesitate to ask."