Churchill Retirement Living on "Crusade" for new land

Churchill Retirement Living, the UK's fastest growing privately owned retirement house builder, is set to continue its growth by launching an aggressive search for new land opportunities.

The company is seeking to acquire up to 50 new development sites in the next three years and has allocated a £100m treasure chest to fund the programme.

Such a significant return to land buying takes Churchill back to the period of rapid expansion it experienced prior to the recession. Prudent and hard decisions taken by the board in August 2007, when staff numbers were cut by nearly 50% and with the closures of its Northern and Western offices, allowed the company to weather the storm of the downturn better than many of its competitors. This prudence is now being rewarded with Churchill Retirement Living being able to embark on the land purchase programme and set itself the challenge of achieving 500 sales in 2015.

Announcing the programme of land purchase, Churchill Retirement Living Chairman and Group Managing Director, Spencer McCarthy said:

"It is a fantastic feeling being able to embark on such a adventurous programme once again. The last two years have been exceptionally tough but this is our reward for taking difficult decisions when we had to. We are the second biggest volume player in the market which is a fitting tribute to everyone of our staff who has worked so hard to get us to where we are today.”

To support the land acquisition programme the company has developed a new marketing campaign based around the imagery of Indiana Jones. The campaign is being targeted at Land Agents, Solicitors, Accountants, Banks, Planning Consultants, and Architects throughout the UK but the company makes it clear that the same rewards, in terms of commission, will also be paid to any member of the public who introduces a successful land deal.

Historically, sites that have worked very well for Churchill have included large family homes with a big garden, ex-nursing homes, old hotels and large pubs even garages and petrol stations. There are however certain strict criteria that every site must meet sites must be regular shaped and between 0.4 and 1.5 acres, they must be close to town centre shops and amenities and occupy prominent high profile locations.

Land deals will be supported by Churchill's sister company, Planning Issues, which will work with any seller to guide them through the whole design and planning process.

Spencer continues..

"When referring land opportunities to us I can guarantee you will be impressed with the professionalism of the Churchill Retirement Living Land Teams. Their close working relationship with Planning Issues, an expert team with many years of experience, who provide a first class, proactive service puts us in the best possible position to secure planning permissions quickly and efficiently. You have our commitment that contracts can be exchanged within 28 days of our offer being accepted. Bank approval is not required for land purchases, just Board Approval, where no nonsense, sound decisions are made quickly.”

Churchill Retirement Living was recently ranked as the UK's 25th Best Small Company to work for by the Sunday Times and was also voted The Most Outstanding Retirement Housing Operator in the UK 2009, at the UK over 50's Housing Awards.