GROWTH MINDSET

The real estate industry’s slowly ageing workforce is seen as a problem in some quarters, but for third-generation realtor James Twiss it has provided some of the best opportunities to establish one of Canterbury’s widest-reaching realty firms. Harcourts Four Seasons is the new name for what until earlier this year was Twiss-Keir Realty, a Rangiora-based business co-founded by Twiss’s father, Geoffrey Twiss, more than 30 years ago.

James Twiss joined the business in 2004 after serving 18 months with a competitor to avoid being that newbie above his station.

At the helm of a stable and experienced company, he strengthened the business with a North Canterbury focus before putting the ‘‘growth mindset’’ into action this year, firstly with the takeover of the Harcourts Four Seasons franchise in Hornby and Rolleston, and then this month with the launch of a new office in Lincoln.

‘‘We’re a bit younger than some others and we’ve got a bit more of a growth focus which we’ve been able to use to our advantage,’’ Twiss says.

Next up for the property highflyer could be an expansion of the property management services they offer. However, Twiss says for now they are ‘‘reasonably comfortable’’ where they are – at the fore of a large, multifaceted industry that in Canterbury, in particular, is building its future like never before.