Boutique developer Life Less Ordinary has created five significant new roles, further expanding its workforce to deliver more homes. The move comes as it looks forward to continued growth with an appetite to see its output increase to a residential development value of over £50 million next year. In what
David Kenkinson has been appointed by the British housebuilder Persimmon as the company’s new Chief Executive (CEO). He has been serving as the group’s interim CEO since late last year and now he will take over the role with immediate effect. “Persimmon is a great company with a bright future and
York based housebuilder Persimmon Homes has secured planning permission for its latest residential project in Wigan. This week, the planning committee at Wigan Council gave the green light for Persimmon to create 150 new homes on land East of Pocket Nook Farm in Lowton. Around a quarter of the properties
Housebuilding firm Persimmon says that the construction of a new “Brickworks” factory was a further investment in its manufacturing capability. The firm said that cost control and procurement discipline provided crucial support to its successful trading performance as it now looks to build a new brick factory in South Yorkshire.
BDC 319 : Aug 2024
Boutique developer Life Less Ordinary has created five significant new roles, further expanding its workforce to deliver more homes. The move comes as it looks forward to continued growth with an appetite to see its output increase to a residential development value of over £50 million next year. In what amounts to an almost total re-structure of the construction team, Life Less Ordinary head hunted James Cross into the role of Head of Technical. James joins from Persimmon Homes and over a career that spans almost 40 years, he has gained experience with leading industry names that include Barratt Homes, Crest Nicholson, and Berkeley Homes. A member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, James is experienced in all aspects of residential development and has built an enviable track record of delivering complex residential and mixed used schemes. Life Less Ordinary has also strengthened its commercial team with Paul Litherland who arrives from Inland Homes to assume the role of Head of Commercial. Sponsored through his university degree by Taylor Woodrow Construction, Paul has gone on to gain experience with Kier Construction and Tolent Construction. Completing the commercial team line-up will be Ben Revel who joins as Assistant Surveyor to support Paul and develop the businesses procurement processes. Darren Breen, meanwhile, left Boshers to join Life Less Ordinary in the construction arm as Operations Manager. After working at Ballymore and Inland Homes, his experience and expertise in construction will allow the business to enhance its product offering with a closer eye to detail and the ability to scale up to a larger number of homes. Commenting on the new appointments, Hinesh Chawda, Director at Life Less Ordinary said: “We have a hugely ambitious appetite to deliver more quality, desirable homes and to do that it is vital that we have the very best senior experience within our team. “The combined experience and enthusiasm of James, Paul, Ben and Darren will allow us to ensure that we continue building quality, desirable homes and a consistently exceptional product as we move through a period of sustained growth.” Life Less Ordinary has also appointed Danielle Chevannes to the role of Customer Service Manager. As a business committed to delivering the strongest customer experience from initial enquiry through to sale completion and follow up, these appointments underscore the team’s focus on providing a customer focused full-service offering. Hinesh concludes: “We have witnessed the positive impact that controlling the entire development process has for the end user and the value that it brings to our customers in their new homes. Danielle will be the principal point of contact for all our buyers and ensure that our customer care matches the quality of the homes that we’re selling.”
David Kenkinson has been appointed by the British housebuilder Persimmon as the company’s new Chief Executive (CEO). He has been serving as the group’s interim CEO since late last year and now he will take over the role with immediate effect. “Persimmon is a great company with a bright future and I am honoured to have been asked to lead it. My priorities will be to maintain the strong operational and financial momentum of the business, to develop further our customer care operations and to bring a greater focus to our wider responsibilities as a leading UK house builder. We have a strong and committed team and I look forward to continuing to work with all my colleagues to deliver the high quality, attractively priced homes that the UK needs,” commented David Jenkinson on his appointment. For over 22 years David has been part of the company, assuming roles like Group Managing Director and serving on Persimmon’s board for over five years. Over this time he has held particular responsibility for land purchase. “After a thorough search, both within the housebuilding sector and more widely, it was clear to the Board that Dave was the best candidate for the role. Since his appointment as interim CEO last year Dave has shown both strong leadership in maintaining the Company’s track record of operational excellence but also that he is listening carefully to the views of all our stakeholders. Persimmon remains committed to its goal of being the leading volume builder of good value, traditional family homes throughout the UK,” said Roger Devlin, Persimmon’s Chairman.
York based housebuilder Persimmon Homes has secured planning permission for its latest residential project in Wigan. This week, the planning committee at Wigan Council gave the green light for Persimmon to create 150 new homes on land East of Pocket Nook Farm in Lowton. Around a quarter of the properties will be affordable housing for either sale or rent. Part of the development will see Persimmon create an open public space that will feature a play area, informal parks, wetlands and ponds. The firm will also make a contribution towards a road marking scheme and the maintenance of play areas and parks. Wigan Council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for regeneration, Cllr David Molyneux, said the scheme’s approval is “brilliant news for the borough”. He commented: “It can take time to get to this stage and to get things really moving forward so this is a great step for our economy. “It is vital that we support appropriate housing development in the borough to keep up with demand for housing and help support growth in our local economy.“ Speaking further, Cllr Molyneux said it is important to keep building affordable homes “so a range of people are attracted to our borough and can find the right home for them”. He added: “Good quality new housing along with improved transport links and employment opportunities provides the right mix to keep our local economy growing.” Outline planning permission for the development was granted in January this year. Persimmon Homes has worked to boost its presence in the North West with a number of residential projects over the last two years. In September last year, the firm signed a £7.25 million deal to acquire 25.8 acres of land in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, from asset management company Gresham House.
Housebuilding firm Persimmon says that the construction of a new “Brickworks” factory was a further investment in its manufacturing capability. The firm said that cost control and procurement discipline provided crucial support to its successful trading performance as it now looks to build a new brick factory in South Yorkshire. The new site, located close to Doncaster, is commissioned for the first quarter of next year and will be manufacturing a significant amount of Persimmon’s brick requirements. The announcement came in a third quarter trading statement that covered the period from July 1, 2016 to November 1, 2016. Persimmon took encouragement from trading over the summer weeks straight after the EU referendum, with the volume of customers visiting Persimmon sites staying way ahead of the previous year. From then on, at the beginning of the autumn selling season, Persimmon said that customer activity strengthened in line with the traditional seasonal variations of the market. Since the group posted its half year results on August 23, 2016, private sales rate has been 19% ahead of last year, which represents a continuation of the stronger sales rate experienced during the summer weeks. The company is now fully sold up for this year and has around £757 million of forward sales reserved past 2016, which is a rise of 4% on the same point last year. Persimmon said that the market has benefitted from strong lender support and resilient consumer confidence. However, the business has recognised that the uncertainty regarding the potential impact of the EU referendum result on the UK economy may go on for some time. Persimmon says that it is still cautious with regard to new land investment but has continued to progress attractive propositions on a selective basis. In a bid to support growth moving forward, the housebuilder is planning to open a new regional operating division near Nottingham on January 2, 2017.
