Countryside Properties
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| Public | |
| Industry | Housebuilding |
| Founded | 1958 |
| Headquarters | Brentwood, Essex, England, UK |
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Key people
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David Howell, Non-Executive Chairman Ian Sutcliffe, Group Chief Executive Officer Graham Cherry, CEO New Homes and Communities Richard Cherry, CEO Partnerships |
| Products | New Homes and Communities |
| Revenue | £671.3 million (2016) |
| £87.3 million (2016) | |
| £61.3 million (2016) | |
| Website | countryside-properties.com |
Countryside Properties is a UK housebuilding and urban regeneration company, operating in London and the South East of England, and with a presence in the North West of England through its Partnerships division. It is listed on the and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
The housebuilding business that became Countryside Properties was founded by Alan Cherry, CBE, who remained its Chairman until his death in January 2010. His eldest son, Graham Cherry, was appointed to the board in 1984 and has been Chief Executive since 1996; his youngest son Richard Cherry was appointed to the board in 1986 and was appointed Deputy Chairman in 2005.
Alan Cherry, a chartered surveyor, began his career as an estate agent and was one of the founding partners of Bairstow Eves. In 1959, the four Bairstow partners formed Copthorn as a development business, with Alan Cherry running it part-time. One of the Bairstow clients was another developer, Countryside Properties, formed in 1958 by Solomon 'Bob' Bobroff, and in the late 1960s the two concerns began to work together. In 1972 Countryside acquired Copthorn and, with Bobroff as Chairman and Alan Cherry as a joint managing director, Countryside was floated on the .
The flotation was closely followed by recession and in 1975 Countryside passed its final dividend. Bobroff had resigned in 1974, and the subsequent expansion was under the sole direction of Alan Cherry. He emphasised the importance of design and marketing and took the Company into a series of very large sites, e.g. Chelmer Village and Chatham Maritime. In 2005, Alan Cherry sought to take the company private. A prominent investor, Paul Kemsley and Joe Lewis's Rock Properties, increased its stake to 28.5%, forcing Cherry to pay more for the company. Countryside was bought out by Copthorn Holdings Ltd, which was then jointly owned by the Cherry family and the Bank of Scotland, part of Lloyds Banking Group.
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