Russ Beresford joins leading retirement BTR operator to help drive aggressive expansion
Birchgrove, the UK’s leading provider of rented retirement homes, has appointed a new Development Director to help fuel the company’s growth as it gears up to meet the anticipated surge in demand for rental homes suitable for older people over the next 10 years.
Russ Beresford comes to the firm with more than 20 years of experience in the property development industry. Prior to joining Birchgrove, he was Head of Development at co-living provider The Collective and has also held roles at Landsec, Blackstone Property Management, Hammerson and Lend Lease.
In addition to co-living, his previous roles span a number of other sub-sectors of the property world, including Central London office development, out-of-town retail and city centre mixed use developments.
The appointment of Beresford follows two other appointments from outside the later living sector late last year, with Marcus Hodges joining as Chief Operating Officer and Raphaël Koifman taking up the post of Chief Financial Officer.
According to Birchgrove’s CEO, Honor Barratt, all three appointments were strategic moves to bring fresh thinking into the business.
“At Birchgrove we’ve always been experts on senior living. However, we recognised that there was a wealth of knowledge we could bring in from outside our particular area that could help us grow the business at the scale needed to meet the huge demographic shifts taking place in our society.
“According to CBRE research, the UK already has a 614,000 shortfall in senior living units and that number is only going to get larger if estimates on the number of people renting in retirement are to be believed – a Pensions Policy Institute report published last year predicted that by 2041, 17% of pensioners will be renting privately.
“We’re delighted to have secured someone with Russ’s background, who has expertise in many areas that I don’t. We believe he can help us expand at scale, as well as making sure we’re planning our developments so we’re running buildings efficiently for the long term, maximising sellable area and constructing buildings with flexibility as our customers change in the future.”
Russ Beresford added: “This post is a development professional’s dream – a well-backed company with huge expansion plans and an emphasis on innovation. I’m looking forward to playing a role in the company’s growth.”
Founded in 2017, Birchgrove operates four retirement communities across the South-East, with two of these now at full capacity and operating waiting lists. It has a fifth development set to open before the end of this year, with four additional communities under construction.
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