Corporate Vision March 2017

44 CORPORATE VISION / March 2017 , Chairman and CEO of Churchill Retirement, SpencerMcCarthy, tells us more about the firm and his visions for the future. Building a Better Lifestyle for the Over 60s I’m very proud to receive the CEO of the Year award, which I see as a testament to what we are achieving at Churchill Retirement Living. We have a company Mission Statement: “To be the most successful housebuilder in the UK.” It’s an ambitious goal, but by winning recognition like this I can certainly say that we are on the way to achieving it. Last year was our most successful to date, with record turnover and profits. We also became the first retirement housing specialist to win the WhatHouse? “Housebuilder of the Year” Award, and just last month we were named 13th Best Company to Work For in the UK. So the accolades keep coming and that’s something I am very proud of. At Churchill we specialise in purpose built one and two bedroom apartments, located throughout England and specifically designed to meet the needs of independent retired people. We focus on providing an independent lifestyle, with regular social activities for our Owners to enjoy, and all those time consuming maintenance jobs taken care of so they can have more time to relax and enjoy their retirement. Churchill Retirement Living has built over 100 developments featuring 3,856 apartments, and we employ over 500 in our six offices across England. Our 100th development – Chelmer Lodge in Chelmsford – was officially opened last November by Dame Esther Rantzen DBE, who is an official Brand Ambassador for the business. Like most housebuilders we’ve faced plenty of challenges over the years, but we’ve worked hard as a team to achieve continued growth and success. Our success is a testament to the excellence of our people and our product, our superb build quality, our customer service and the way we do business. We have a very clear focus on what it is we want to achieve at Churchill, we have a very clear understanding of our customer and their needs and this is all reflected in the product we have and the clear understanding of our specification. There is plenty of uncertainty around the housing market at the moment, and plenty of debate about whether we can build enough homes to supply our growing – and rapidly ageing – population. What I do know is that, whatever happens in the coming years, we’ll be looking to keep on growing, investing and improving across every aspect of the business. We have ambitious targets and a clear plan in place to keep delivering disciplined growth whilst maintaining sector leading margins. Despite the uncertainty of Brexit, and whatever that might mean for the economy and the wider housing market, I see plenty of reasons to feel confident about our sector. There’s no getting around the fact that we have a rapidly ageing population, many of them isolated and lonely and living in housing which doesn’t suit their changing needs. Analysts forecast that by 2039, 37% of all households in the UK will be headed up by people aged over 65. There are already around 8 million over 60s who are interested in downsizing. They’re compelling figures, but we need to provide these people with the right homes in the right places, and planning reforms and more incentives for older people to downsize will be vital to achieving that. The Government’s Housing White Paper has highlighted some of these issues, but there is a lot more that needs to be done to bring about the changes we need. Another focus for the year ahead is to keep growing the Churchill Foundation, our registered charity which enables us to support the many local communities where we work. The Foundation was set up in 2015 to give to a wide range of charities, and it’s an initiative I feel very strongly about. We managed to raise over £250,000 for the Foundation in its first full year, and it’s another aspect of the business that I’m very proud of. Our own Churchill Awards for the over 65s, now in their fifth year, will also keep recognising the achievements of the over 65s in British society. Increasingly the over 65s play an important role in all realms of society, be it politics, art, business, sport, or championing the environment, and we want to keep honouring this. I’d like to thank all my colleagues for their continued hard work and commitment towards the company. Awards like this wouldn’t be possible without such an excellent team of people around me, and I look forward to achieving plenty of further success over the coming years. K Company: Churchill Retirement Living Name: Spencer McCarthy Email: [email protected] Web Address: www.churchillretirement.co.uk Address: Millstream House, Parkside, Ringwood, Hampshire, BH24 3SG Telephone: +44 (0)20 7608 7222 1703CV28