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Countryside Properties plc
Company typePublic
IndustryHousebuilding
Founded1958
HeadquartersBrentwood, Essex, England, UK
Key people
David Howell, Non-Executive Chairman
Ian Sutcliffe, Group Chief Executive Officer
Graham Cherry, CEO New Homes and Communities
Richard Cherry, CEO Partnerships
ProductsNew Homes and Communities
Revenue£547.5 million (2015)[1]
£67.9 million (2015)[1]
£19.8 million (2015)[1]
Websitecountryside-properties.com

Countryside Properties is a UK housebuilding and urban regeneration company, operating in London and the South East of England, and with a presence in the North West of England through its Partnerships division.[2] It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

History

The housebuilding business that became Countryside Properties was founded by Alan Cherry, CBE, who remained its Chairman until his death in January 2010.[3] His eldest son, Graham Cherry, was appointed to the board in 1984 and has been Chief Executive since 1996;[4] his youngest son Richard Cherry was appointed to the board in 1986 and was appointed Deputy Chairman in 2005.[5]

Alan Cherry, a chartered surveyor, began his career as an estate agent and was one of the founding partners of Bairstow Eves. In 1959, the four Bairstow partners formed Copthorn as a development business, with Alan Cherry running it part-time. One of the Bairstow clients was another developer, Countryside Properties, formed in 1958 by Solomon 'Bob' Bobroff, and in the late 1960s the two concerns began to work together.[6] In 1972 Countryside acquired Copthorn and, with Bobroff as Chairman and Alan Cherry as a joint managing director, Countryside was floated on the London Stock Exchange.[7]

The flotation was closely followed by recession and in 1975 Countryside passed its final dividend. Bobroff had resigned in 1974, and the subsequent expansion was under the sole direction of Alan Cherry. He emphasised the importance of design and marketing and took the Company into a series of very large sites, e.g. Chelmer Village and Chatham Maritime.[6]

In 2005, Alan Cherry sought to take the company private. A prominent investor, Paul Kemsley and Joe Lewis's Rock Properties, increased its stake to 28.5%, forcing Cherry to pay more for the company.[8] Countryside was bought out by Copthorn Holdings Ltd, which was then jointly owned by the Cherry family and the Bank of Scotland, part of Lloyds Banking Group.[9]

The company achieved record profits in the following two years, amounting to £27 million on a turnover of £430 million in the year ended September 2007.[4] However, the late-2000s financial crisis affected housebuilders acutely, and the company recorded a loss of £22 million on sales of £312 million in the year to September 2008. Under a refinancing deal in October 2009, Lloyds took control of the company.[10]

In 2013, Oaktree Capital Management purchased a majority share in the company, making a further capital injection. The Cherry family retain a minority stake, and Lloyds provided five-year loan facilities.[10] As of October 2014, former Keepmoat chief executive Ian Sutcliffe became the new Executive Chairman.[11]

In 2014 Oaktree acquired luxury home developer Millgate and merged it with Countryside, planning to double the company's size.[12] Following this, the company rebranded as Countryside rather than Countryside Properties, adopting the slogan ‘Places People Love’.[13]

In 2015, Countryside announced further changes to its Board of Directors. David Howell, previously a non-executive director, became Chairman, whilst Ian Sutcliffe assumed the role of Group Chief Executive Officer. Graham Cherry became CEO New Homes and Communities, whilst Richard Cherry became CEO Partnerships.[14]

In February 2016 the company was the subject of an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange.[15]

Projects

Developments

Great Notley Garden Village is an extension to the town of Braintree, Essex, built over a decade starting in 1993. As well as almost 2,000 homes in three separate 'hamlets', it has a primary school, church, community centre, doctors' surgery, supermarket, chip shop and village green.[16] The Village is cited as an example of Countryside’s design philosophy of 'maturity' and 'community'.[16]

Great Kneighton is located 3.7 km south of Cambridge between the village of Trumpington, Cambridgeshire and Addenbrooke's Hospital, and lies in the Cambridge Southern Fringe growth area. The overall development will eventually provide up to 2,250 new homes, extensive strategic open space, accompanying provision of education facilities, sports and recreation, health and community facilities and local shopping facilities. Forty per cent of the new homes will be affordable housing.[17]

The overall vision for Wickhurst Green is to provide an extension to the existing village of Broadbridge Heath, providing much-needed new homes and community facilities. At the heart of this new development will be a new primary school and village centre, creating the opportunity for new community and healthcare facilities. Integral to the development is the provision of a wide range of outdoor activities for sports and recreation. As well as local greens and landscaped spaces for informal recreation, residents will be able to enjoy two large neighbourhood play areas designed for a range of age groups, several formal sports pitches and courts with changing, parking and social facilities.[18]

Beaulieu is a sustainable urban extension to the North East of Chelmsford. Countryside are working in a joint venture with London & Quadrant to create a sustainable community on 850 acres in a highly accessible location between the A130 and the A12 at the Boreham Interchange. Key elements of the overall proposals include a mixed-use residential and commercial development providing up to 3,600 new mixed-tenure homes, and a site for a new railway station - one of only a handful of new station proposals in the UK which has full rail industry support.[19]

Regeneration

Greenwich Millennium Village Limited, a joint venture between Countryside and Taylor Wimpey, won a government-initiated competition in February 1998 to transform the former site of Europe's largest gas works into a sustainable new community. It is one of the largest regeneration projects in Europe.[20] The Village won a sustainability award at the RIBA Housing Design Awards and a Civic Trust Award in 2004.[21] 1,095 homes had been completed by 2008, and further phases are planned.[20]

In 2008, Guinness Trust chose Countryside in 2008 as contractor for regeneration of the Loughborough Park Estate in Brixton, south London. The project includes replacing 390 homes built in the 1930s with 530 new homes and community facilities.[22]

Awards

In 2008 its Accordia development in Cambridge was the first housing scheme to win the RIBA Stirling Prize for architecture.[23] The same project had previously been the Overall Winner & Medium Housebuilder Winner of the RIBA Housing Design Award 2006,[24] repeating the awards which he company had won in 2004[25] and 2005.[26]

In 2013 its Villa housetype at Kings Park, Harold Wood, won the silver award in the 'Best House' category, as part of the What House? Awards.[27] It also won the silver award in the 'Best Retirement Development' category for Cliveden Village, Taplow.[28] Its Horsted Park development in Chatham was named as 'Housing Project of the Year' at the 2013 Building Awards.[29]

Countryside together with its partner Liberty Property Trust received the ‘Place Making Award’ for the Cambridge Biomedical Campus at the Property Awards 2014.[30] Countryside in association with Royal National Institute of Blind People received the BBC/RHS People's Choice Award following their earlier accolades of Gold Medal and the award for Best Fresh Garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2014.[31]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Prospectus" (PDF). Countryside Properties. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  2. ^ "Prospectus: Countryside Properties" (PDF). Barclays Stockbrokers. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  3. ^ Countryside chair Alan Cherry dies, Inside Housing, 25 Jan 2010
  4. ^ a b Countryside Properties enjoys record £27m profit, Contract Journal, 14 Feb 2008. Retrieved 5 June 2009. [dead link‍]
  5. ^ "Company officers: Countryside Properties". Reuters. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  6. ^ a b Wellings, Fred. Dictionary of British Housebuilders (2006), Troubador. ISBN 978-0-9552965-0-5.
  7. ^ History on official website
  8. ^ "Tottenham Hotspur man becomes a player in online games". London: The Sunday Times. 5 Dec 2005. Retrieved 5 Jun 2009.
  9. ^ History on official website
  10. ^ a b Julie Miecamp (26 February 2013). "Oaktree Capital Buys U.K.'s Countryside Capital From Lloyds". Bloomberg. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  11. ^ "Former Keepmoat boss appointed Countryside chairman". constructionenquirer.com. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  12. ^ "Countryside plans to double following merger with Millgate". Building. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  13. ^ "History". countryside-properties.com. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  14. ^ "Countryside announces David Howell as Non-Executive Chairman with Ian Sutcliffe changing role to Group Chief Executive Officer". countryside-properties.com. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  15. ^ "Countryside pushes ahead with £1bn IPO - and share price rises 1.54 per cent". City AM. 12 February 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  16. ^ a b Daisy Froud, Countryside Properties and the Shape of Time, University of London, 2002. Reprinted in Home Cultures Journal, 2004. Illustrated academic review of Great Notley Garden Village and Beaulieu Park, Chelmsford.
  17. ^ "Great Kneighton - Great Kneighton Latest News - Cambridge Homes & Lifestyle". greatkneighton.co.uk. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  18. ^ "Wickhurst Green - new homes in Broadbridge Heath, Horsham, West Sussex". wickhurstgreen.com. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  19. ^ "Beaulieu. A beautiful new housing development in Chelmsford, Essex". beaulieu.uk.com. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  20. ^ a b Greenwich Millennium Village, London at English Partnerships website (2008)
  21. ^ Greenwich Millennium Village at CABE website
  22. ^ Countryside wins £105m Lambeth regeneration scheme, Contract Journal, 22 Oct 2008. Retrieved 6 June 2009. [dead link‍]
  23. ^ Tom Dyckhoff, Stirling Prize 2008 winner: Accordia housing development, Cambridge, 14 October 2008, The Times
  24. ^ Accordia, Cambridge, RIBA Housing Design Awards 2006
  25. ^ RIBA St Mary's Island, Housing Design Awards 2004
  26. ^ Bennet’s Courtyard, London, SW19, RIBA Housing Design Awards 2005
  27. ^ "Website Currently Disabled". what-house-awards.co.uk. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  28. ^ "Website Currently Disabled". what-house-awards.co.uk. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  29. ^ "Horsted Park is Housing Project of the Year". proctorandmatthews.com. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  30. ^ 'Place Making' award key to Countryside, Countryside website, 14 April 2014.
  31. ^ "The 'Mind's Eye' Garden wins the BBC/RHS People's Choice Award at RHS Chelsea Flower Show". rnib.org.uk. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
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