Written by SINEAD HOLLAND
THE property market boom is responsible for “rapid expansion” at Takeley’s Weston Homes, which has created 63 new jobs in the past year.
The company has increased its staff by 25%, has 70% more active sites now than the same time in 2013 and has secured a £100m finance deal with HSBC and Lloyds TSB banks as part of a bid to double in size within the next three years.
Chief executive Bob Weston said: “The property market has undergone considerable change and improvement over the last 12 months for both new build and resale homes and we expect this to continue throughout 2014.
“With the banks beginning to lend again and Help to Buy remaining popular, there is a stronger demand for property now, than in the last six years. We have launched four new developments in the last month alone, many of which have already nearly sold out.
“Having secured ï¿¡100 million of financing with HSBC and Lloyds TSB under preferential terms, we have been able to plan expansion of the business and regionalise Weston Homes, enabling us to invest in new sites in 2014.”
The programme has allowed the company, was established in 1987, to accommodate the increasing demand for new homes and restructure its construction, sales, technical and commercial departments into three key regions, North, South and East.
Bob added: “We anticipated that the market was going to pick up in early 2013 and took the decision to regionalise Weston Homes, ensuring that quality and standard remains high and allowing us to accommodate further future growth.
“Our remit has expanded from Essex into Kent, Herts and central London and we plan to continue to expand, with expectations to double in size in the next two to three years, when we will then review our expansion programme. We are expecting a positive future for the company.”
