A 20-YEAR career that began managing milk quotas has seen Tom Mellor rise to the role of partner at a Somerset firm.

Tom is marking two decades with property and auction firm Greenslade Taylor Hunt this month.

He originally joined the firm as an administrator in the milk quota department at Taunton, and still has the letter signed by Richard Webber offering him the position.

Over the years, Tom has risen through the ranks, initially sponsored by GTH to undertake correspondence courses to secure both a diploma in surveying practice, followed by an honours degree in estate management.

Now, he oversees the graduate scheme within the firm and is particularly proud to see the next generation of property and rural professionals progress and thrive.

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As he trained on the job rather than take the university path it took him longer to qualify, but this route meant that he was overseeing and training others as soon as he qualified as a surveyor.

He is now based at the Sedgemoor Auction Centre, near Bridgwater, and has been there since the market relocated from Taunton in 2008.

He has seen it expand into the largest livestock market in the south of England, attracting buyers and sellers from across Britain and Ireland.

However, it has not always been a role of glamour – with Tom recalling one incident which saw an over-enthusiastic bullock literally eat the paperwork out of his hand as he attempted to book in the pen of seemingly hungry store cattle.

“I’ve grown up here, along with the market,” he said. “The 17 years we have been based at Sedgemoor have flown by. I can’t see any reason why the next 17 years won’t do the same.”

As well as a regular auctioneering slot selling sheep at Sedgemoor on Saturdays and machinery at on-farm sales, Tom is also the Partner in Charge of the firm’s antiques department, overseeing the department’s move to Sedgemoor last year.

His workload also encompasses Red Book valuations, compensation claims, tenancy matters, land-based subsidy claims and any other rural professional matters.