A Hitchin estate agent is reaping the benefits of his hard work after his company was snapped up by a nationwide chain in what experts are describing as an industry defining deal.

Adam Day, managing director of Brand Street-based online sales specialists Hatched.co.uk and his team are now part of the Connells group, which also has a branch in the town.

Adam, who has been an expert guest on Sarah Beeny’s Channel Four show How to Sell Your Home after building up his pioneering business model from scratch, said: “We are delighted and proud to say that we’re now part of the Connells group whose values of great estate agency practice are perfectly aligned with ours.”

But life could have turned out very differently for former Hitchin Boys’ School pupil Adam, right, if he hadn’t read the Comet as a teenager.

He recalled this week: “I went on a lads holiday to Magaluf when I was 19 and ended up breaking my foot and had to get an emergency flight back to England.

“While I was laid up at home a copy of the Comet dropped through the door. While reading the paper I came across a job advert for a trainee negotiator in a Hitchin estate agents, and I decided to apply for it.

“I literally hobbled down there and got the job and it all went from there.

“I absolutely love what I do. I’ve always had a strong work ethic.”