Yorkshire-based modular housing company ilke Homes has opened new offices in London, Birmingham and Bristol, as well as creating a new ‘homes and development unit’, to manage the near-200% annual growth of the company’s demand pipeline.
ilke Homes managing director Ben Miller has been promoted into the newly-created role of chief executive officer of the company’s new homes and development unit, which will manage all sales of homes to customers, including housing associations, local authorities and private developers.
The company claim the regional expansion of the business is possible following a string of major deals and a £30m investment from Homes England.
The newly created homes and development unit merges ilke Homes’ core business - as an offsite manufacturer that supplies homes directly to clients - with ‘turnkey’ development solutions, whereby customers can purchase complete developments sourced and delivered by ilke Homes. This means ilke Homes would acquire land, gain planning permission, manufacture the homes and develop the sites, making the company a fully-integrated housing developer.
ilke Homes’ regional expansion into Birmingham, London and Bristol will enable it to quickly identify undeveloped sites in the Midlands, South East and South West for new developments, as well as signing major deals with customers based across the country.
Miller will manage the new business unit as well as lead on the sales of the homes, while ilke Homes executive chairman Dave Sheridan will continue to oversee the manufacturing and development functions of the business.
Miller joined ilke Homes in April 2019 from FTSE 250 housebuilder Crest Nicholson alongside former Crest Nicholson executives Tom Heathcote, Tristin Willis and Matthew Bench, who are the executive directors of development, construction, and partnerships at ilke Homes, respectively.
The quartet, who spent ten years working together at Crest Nicholson, were brought in as a result of the company’s rapid expansion, following major business wins including the UK’s largest modular housing deal with housing association Places for People for 750 homes worth £100m.
Miller will be crucial to continuing to scale-up the business as it looks to deliver 5,000 homes a year by 2025, a level that would establish the manufacturer as a top-10 housebuilder. ilke Homes has a development pipeline of c.3,200 homes, which has almost trebled from 1,200 homes a year ago.
Ben Miller, chief executive officer at ilke Homes, said: "For Britain to recover quickly from COVID-19, the construction sector needs to be able to respond fast. Having a presence in every region will allow us to better support councils and housing associations, which have a real opportunity to speed up their housing delivery with high-quality, eco-friendly homes that can be manufactured and installed quickly, while fully-complying with social-distancing measures.
"Having a turnkey offer - where we acquire land, get consent and supply finished modules - will enable us to better support clients who want to bring homes to the market more quickly. The in-house team we've established has huge experience and while there will absolutely be challenging times to come, I am confident we are well-placed to tackle them head-on."
Dave Sheridan, executive chairman at ilke Homes, said: “Our latest expansion gives us a presence in every English region and is testament to the rapid growth of our business. Having built up some of Crest Nicholson’s most successful divisions in the midlands, south east and south west, Ben’s expertise and track record of delivery in these markets will be invaluable as we look to become a top-ten UK housebuilder and to make Britain the go-to global exporter of energy-efficient modular housing.”]
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