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Countryside Partnerships plc, formerly Countryside Properties plc, is a UK
housebuilding Home construction or residential construction is the process of constructing a house, apartment building, or similar residential building generally referred to as a 'home' when giving consideration to the people who might now or someday reside th ...
and
urban regeneration Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...
company, operating mainly in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
and the South East of England, but with a presence in the
North West of England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,052,000 in 2011. It is the t ...
. It was listed on the
London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pa ...
and was a constituent of the
FTSE 250 Index The FTSE 250 Index ( "Footsie") is a capitalisation-weighted index consisting of the 101st to the 350th largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. Promotions and demotions to and from the index occur quarterly in March, June, Septemb ...
until it was acquired by Vistry Group in November 2022.


History


Foundation and initial flotation

The housebuilding business that became Countryside Properties was founded in 1958 by Alan Cherry CBE, who remained its chairman until his death in January 2010. His eldest son, Graham Cherry, was appointed to the board in 1984 and was chief executive from 1996; his youngest son Richard Cherry was appointed to the board in 1986 and was appointed deputy chairman in 2005. Alan Cherry, a chartered surveyor, began his career as an
estate agent An estate agent is a person or business that arranges the selling, renting, or management of properties and other buildings. An agent that specialises in renting is often called a letting or management agent. Estate agents are mainly engage ...
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.Wellings, Fred. ''Dictionary of British Housebuilders'' (2006), Troubador. . 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 London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pa ...
.


Return to private status

The flotation was closely followed by a 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. In 2005, Alan Cherry sought to take the company private. A prominent investor,
Paul Kemsley Paul Zeital Kemsley (born 17 August 1967) is an English businessman, property developer and media personality. Since 2016, he has regularly appeared on the American reality television show '' The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills'', alongside his ...
and Joe Lewis's Rock Properties, increased its stake to 28.5%, forcing Cherry to pay more for the company. Countryside was bought out by Copthorn Holdings Ltd, which was then jointly owned by the Cherry family and the
Bank of Scotland The Bank of Scotland plc ( Scottish Gaelic: ''Banca na h-Alba'') is a commercial and clearing bank based in Scotland and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group, following the Bank of Scotland's implosion in 2008. The bank was established by t ...
, part of
Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Banking Group is a British financial institution formed through the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB in 2009. It is one of the UK's largest financial services organisations, with 30 million customers and 65,000 employees. Lloyds Bank ...
.History
on official website
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.
''Contract Journal'', 14 February 2008. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
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. In 2013,
Oaktree Capital Management Oaktree Capital Management is an American global asset management firm specializing in alternative investment strategies. As of March 31, 2022, the company managed $164 billion for its clientele. The firm was co-founded in 1995 by a group that ...
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. As of October 2014, former Keepmoat chief executive Ian Sutcliffe became the new executive chairman. In 2014 Oaktree acquired luxury home developer Millgate and merged it with Countryside, planning to double the company's size. Following this, the company rebranded as Countryside rather than Countryside Properties, adopting the slogan ‘Places People Love’. 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.


Second flotation

In February 2016 the company was the subject of an
initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...
on the
London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pa ...
. In November 2019, Ian Sutcliffe announced he was stepping down as CEO to be replaced by Ian McPherson from 1 January 2020. In January 2022, McPherson was ousted after disappointing trading figures for the first three months of the financial year to December 2021 showed operating profit more than halved at £28m from £60m previously, on revenue down 28% to £429m. Peter Lee, a partner at US investment firm Browning West, one of Countryside’s largest shareholders, joined the board as non-executive director; Browning West had previously called for Countryside to be split into two parts to allow its Partnership business to thrive. The company changed its name from Countryside Properties to Countryside Partnerships in January 2022. in May 2022, Countryside was the target of a takeover bid by Inclusive Capital Partners (In-Cap), a
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
-based
hedge fund A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that trades in relatively liquid assets and is able to make extensive use of more complex trading, portfolio-construction, and risk management techniques in an attempt to improve performance, such as ...
. The Countryside board rejected this bid, but Browning West, which holds 15.3% of Countryside's shares, pressed the board to listen to offers, and, on 13 June, the board relented. The company's non-executive chairman, John Martin, quit a month later.


Vistry takeover

In September 2022, UK homebuilder Vistry Group offered a £1.24 billion cash and shares deal to acquire Countryside. The deal, backed by both boards and by five major shareholders at Countryside holding 39% of the company, will create one of the UK's biggest home builders with revenue of over £3bn. Countryside shareholders would receive 0.255 of a Vistry share for each of their shares plus 60p; if approved, the deal would be completed in early 2023. Vistry CEO Greg Fitzgerald said the Countryside brand would be retained if the takeover was approved by shareholders. In October 2022, Vistry published a timetable for the merger which was expected to complete on 11 November 2022. The transaction was approved by the High Court on 10 November 2022, so allowing the transaction to complete the following day.


Projects


Developments

Great Notley Garden Village Great Notley is a village to the south-west of Braintree, Essex in England. It has an approximate population of 7,845 and became an independent civil parish on 1 April 2000 as a result of The Great Notley Parish Council Order 2000. Archeology ...
is an extension to the town of
Braintree, Essex Braintree is a town and former civil parish in Essex, England. The principal settlement of Braintree District, it is located northeast of Chelmsford and west of Colchester. According to the 2011 Census, the town had a population of 41,634, ...
, 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.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 Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of Lond ...
.
The Village is cited as an example of Countryside's design philosophy of 'maturity' and 'community'. Great Kneighton is located 3.7 km south of Cambridge between the village of Trumpington, Cambridgeshire and
Addenbrooke's Hospital Addenbrooke's Hospital is an internationally renowned large teaching hospital and research centre in Cambridge, England, with strong affiliations to the University of Cambridge. Addenbrooke's Hospital is based on the Cambridge Biomedical ...
, 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. 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. 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.


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.Greenwich Millennium Village, London
at
English Partnerships English Partnerships (EP) was the national regeneration agency for England, performing a similar role on a national level to that fulfilled by regional development agencies on a regional level. On 1 December 2008 its powers passed to a successo ...
website (2008)
The Village won a sustainability award at the RIBA Housing Design Awards and a Civic Trust Award in 2004. 1,095 homes had been completed by 2008, and further phases are planned. In 2008, Guinness Trust chose Countryside in 2008 as contractor for regeneration of the Loughborough Park Estate in
Brixton Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th centu ...
, south London. The project includes replacing 390 homes built in the 1930s with 530 new homes and community facilities.


Controversies


Ground rent

In 2017, it was reported that Countryside was selling properties with doubling
Ground rent As a legal term, ground rent specifically refers to regular payments made by a holder of a leasehold property to the freeholder or a superior leaseholder, as required under a lease. In this sense, a ground rent is created when a freehold piece o ...
terms written into the leasehold contracts of purchasers, such terms are considered by mortgage lenders such as
Nationwide Building Society Nationwide Building Society is a British mutual financial institution, the seventh largest cooperative financial institution and the largest building society in the world with over 16 million members. Its headquarters are in Swindon, England ...
to be "unfair" and ones that they would be unwilling to lend on. In light of increasing media coverage, Countryside signalled it would attempt to 'buy back' freeholds and amend terms for some leaseholders affected by 10 year doubling ground rents, by linking increases to
Retail price index In the United Kingdom, the Retail Prices Index or Retail Price Index (RPI) is a measure of inflation published monthly by the Office for National Statistics. It measures the change in the cost of a representative sample of retail goods and ser ...
. Subsequently, the government has turned attention to what it views as abuse of the Leasehold system and announced a raft of measures, including capping future ground rents at zero for future new build homes.


Cladding

In 2018, following the
Grenfell Tower fire On 14 June 2017, a high-rise fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of flats in North Kensington, West London, at 00:54 BST and burned for 60 hours. 72 people died, two later in hospital, with more than 70 injured and 223 es ...
, a fire service investigation deemed the cladding unsafe on the NV Buildings in
Salford Quays Salford Quays is an area of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, near the end of the Manchester Ship Canal. Previously the site of Manchester Docks, it became one of the first and largest urban regeneration projects in the United Kingdom f ...
. The buildings were developed in 2004 by Countryside and built by Carillion, which had gone into liquidation in January 2018. Householders were told the costs to replace the cladding would have to be met by them. So far, Countryside has not said whether it will pay, although developers Taylor Wimpey and Barratt have done so elsewhere on "moral" grounds, despite not being legally required to. A structural engineer, contracted by residents, reviewed the buildings in June 2018. The report concluded that the use of expanded
polystyrene Polystyrene (PS) is a synthetic polymer made from monomers of the aromatic hydrocarbon styrene. Polystyrene can be solid or foamed. General-purpose polystyrene is clear, hard, and brittle. It is an inexpensive resin per unit weight. It is ...
(EPS) and gaps in fire breaks on external walls meant the development may not have complied with building regulations when built. Countryside said NV Buildings received all relevant approvals when Carillion completed the project. Countryside was undertaking a "comprehensive review" of the building's design and construction. In 2019, the developer billed leaseholders to cover the £2.6m cost of replacing the cladding, with costs ranging from £12,000 to £34,000.


Awards

In 2008 its Accordia development in
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...
was the first housing scheme to win the RIBA Stirling Prize for architecture. The same project had previously been the Overall Winner & Medium Housebuilder Winner of the
RIBA The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...
Housing Design Award 2006, repeating the awards which the company had won in 2004 and 2005. 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. It also won the silver award in the 'Best Retirement Development' category for Cliveden Village, Taplow. Its Horsted Park development in Chatham was named as 'Housing Project of the Year' at the 2013 Building Awards. Countryside together with its partner Liberty Property Trust received the ‘Place Making Award’ for the Cambridge Biomedical Campus at the Property Awards 2014. 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.


References


External links


Official website
{{Authority control Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1958 Housebuilding companies of the United Kingdom Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange Companies based in Brentwood, Essex Privately held companies of the United Kingdom 1958 establishments in England Announced mergers and acquisitions