Member Article

New MD aims to double Keepmoat’s house sales in the North West

Keepmoat has appointed Sandy McBride as the Managing Director of its new build homes division in the North West of England as part of the company’s ambitious growth plans.

Keepmoat is forecast to sell more than 400 homes in the North West over the 2014/15 financial year. As its new regional managing director, Sandy aims to double that figure to 800 sales per annum in five years.

Sandy, 55, joins Keepmoat from Redrow where he was the head of their North West division for two and a half years, responsible for the construction of 350 homes a year.

News of the appointment comes just a month after Keepmoat Homes was selected to build its first ever properties for private sale in Manchester. In July Manchester City Council revealed it had chosen Keepmoat to construct 400 flexible ‘Lifetime’ homes as part of a £50m regeneration scheme in Gorton, subject to planning permission.

Sandy said Keepmoat’s model of delivering regeneration in towns and cities through the construction of high-quality, entry-level homes was the driving force behind taking up the role.

He said: “Keepmoat has a fantastic reputation for breathing new life into communities and neighbourhoods through the creation of high-quality housing.

“Most developers shy away from developing on brownfield land, but Keepmoat is unique in the fact that they are passionate about regeneration and believe in giving something back to the communities they work in.

“Now is a great time to be joining Keepmoat. The economy is improving, there’s a shortfall in housing and the pipeline of development we have in the North West means we can confidently look to double our sales in five years.”

Born in St Andrews in Fife, Sandy has more than 30 years’ experience in housing having previously been managing director at Redrow NW, Gladedale Homes (now Avant) and Bett Homes.

As well as building on Keepmoat’s successful partnerships with local authorities in Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Lancashire, Sandy will be looking to expand Keepmoat’s reach in Cheshire.

Peter Hindley, Managing Director of Keepmoat Homes, said: “Sandy is a key appointment for us as we look to increase sales and drive the construction of new homes in the North West of England.

“Sandy has a huge wealth of experience in house building and his expertise in business development and knowledge of the region means he is the ideal person to grow Keepmoat’s business in the North West.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Chris Walker .