New land director raring to go

Tue, Jan 9th 2007, 11:00

With almost 25 years experience in residential building, Michael Blake certainly has what it takes to help Redrow Homes continue its success.

As the house builder’s newly appointed land director in the south west of England, Michael, 42, is now responsible for identifying, appraising and acquiring new sites for Redrow.

He says: “I came straight into the industry from school at 18, working as a quantity surveyor on residential housing developments. After nine years in quantity surveying, I decided that the long term career prospects were better within land and planning and so made the switch over within the same company - I literally finished as a quantity surveyor on the Friday and started as a land negotiator on the Monday! My training was ‘on the job’ and although starting again on the bottom rung of a new career was a difficult decision at the time, I don’t regret a thing.

“I’m very much enjoying the new challenge at Redrow, and am fortunate to be working with such a good team - there is also good support from those higher up in the company. I’m currently in the middle of signing up my second site since starting, and am hoping to tie up a third deal tomorrow – it just doesn’t stop!’

Michael has joined Redrow from George Wimpey in West London, where he was land and planning director.

Rob Slocombe, managing director of Bristol-based Redrow Homes (South West) says: “Michael is going to be a great addition to the team here at Redrow. He brings with him a wealth of knowledge, and we’re confident he has the talent to take our land signings to the next level.”

Although Michael, who lives in Taunton with his wife, Jo, and two young daughters, has been busy since starting his new post, he still has time to fit in a few of his favourite hobbies. He says: “I’m very outdoorsy – I like sailing and do some running to keep myself fit. I also enjoy getting the chance to travel with my family.”

On why he decided to join Redrow, he says: “Before I came to the company, I was impressed with the ethos and attitude of the senior management team and I appreciated Redrow’s aims with respect to its employees, growth ambitions, design agenda and customer focus. I’m now aiming to improve the supply of our pipeline sites and increase outlets available to the business.”
 
Redrow Homes (South West) is a subsidiary of the award-winning Redrow plc, which builds around 5,000 new homes each year. The Bristol-based division is currently building in Weston-super-Mare, Swindon, Gloucester, Nailsworth, Chippenham, Westbury and Trowbridge.

For details of a career with Redrow, please visit www.redrowcareers.co.uk, or call 0845 676 0500.