New CEO, Board Changes & Proposed Acquisition

Inland Homes PLC

24 July 2023

 

24 July 2023

Inland Homes plc

("Inland Homes" or the "Group")

Appointment of new CEO

Board Changes and Proposed Acquisition of NorthCountry Homes Ltd

Appointment of new CEO and NED

Inland Homes plc (AIM: INL), the brownfield developer, housebuilder and partnership housing company with a focus on the South and South East of England, is delighted to announce the appointment of Jolyon Harrison as Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") of the Group.

Jolyon has over 50 years of house building experience, including as Chief Executive Officer of MJ Gleeson plc where he served as Chief Executive Officer between October 2014 and June 2019, having joined the group in 2009 and previously been Managing Director of Gleeson Homes.  Prior to that he was founder and Chairman of Pelham Construction / NorthCountry Homes Group and was also Managing Director of Shepherd Homes.  Additionally, Jolyon has served as a member of the North East Housing Board, a member of NHBC Standards Committee and a Council member of the Home Builder's Federation.  He was also Chairman of York Housing Association.  Jolyon has a beneficial holding of 4.94% in Inland Homes.

Inland Homes is also delighted to announce that it intends to invite Richard Padley to join its board as Non-executive Director following completion of regulatory director due diligence.  Richard is a chartered accountant and has relevant financial and property experience.  He is Commercial Director of G W Padley Holdings Limited.  His family interests have a holding of 4.54% in Inland Homes.

Further Board Changes

Nishith Malde, who was one of the founding shareholders of the Group in 2005 and is currently Chief Financial Officer and Acting Chief Executive Officer, has advised the Board of his intention to retire and step down as a director of Inland Homes, following an appropriate handover period following Jolyon's appointment.  Nishith will remain available in an advisory capacity to the business on a consultancy basis for a period of 12 months thereafter.

Jolyon intends to establish his own executive team, including the recruitment of a new Chief Financial Officer.

Acquisition of NorthCountry Homes Limited ("NorthCountry")

The Board also announces that it has agreed Heads of Terms for the acquisition of NorthCountry for a consideration of £4m, to be settled by the issue of 40 million new ordinary shares in Inland Homes .  Jolyon Harrison is Executive Chairman and 51% shareholder in NorthCountry.  G W Padley Holdings Limited and G W Padley Property 2 Limited between them hold the balance of 49%.  The proposed acquisition is subject to legal and financial due diligence, agreement of a formal sale agreement, the obtaining of any required shareholder and regulatory approvals, restoration to trading on AIM of Inland Homes' existing shares and the admission to trading of the new ordinary shares to be issued for the proposed acquisition.

Matthew Robinson, Chair of Inland Homes, commented:

"Jolyon is a proven leader, with a strong track record of operational, strategic and commercial success in construction and property development.  The whole Inland team looks forward to his contribution to this next stage of Inland's corporate development."

Jolyon Harrison, CEO of Inland Homes, commented:

"I am delighted to be joining Inland as CEO.  Inland has a valuable consented land bank in the South and South East of England and has a number of similarities with where I was in 2009.  We will be expanding the low cost homes business model of NorthCountry in the North of England, based in Wakefield, taking advantage of low Northern land values and developing the Inland brownfield and strategic land business in the South where land values are high, as well as completing Inland's existing construction commitments.  In due course it is proposed to rebrand the business to reflect its focus on housebuilding in the north of England.  The Group will remain headquartered in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire for the foreseeable future.  I look forward to the Inland team helping me to turn the business round which will take a while, but we are looking forward to a profitable future."

Additional Information

In accordance with the AIM Rules, the following information required to be disclosed in relation to Jolyon Harrison is set out below. Other than this information, there is no further information required to be disclosed under paragraph (g) of Schedule Two of the AIM Rules.

Full name and age

Jolyon Leonard Harrison, aged 75

Current beneficial shareholding in the Company

13,545,918 shares

Current directorships

MSP TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED

MULTI SOURCE POWER LIMITED

NORTHCOUNTRY HOMES (HORSLEY ROAD) LIMITED

NORTHCOUNTRY HOMES (HULL ROAD) LIMITED

NORTHCOUNTRY HOMES (MILLBROOK LANE) LIMITED

NORTHCOUNTRY HOMES (PARKWOOD RISE) LIMITED

NORTHCOUNTRY HOMES (PELHAM ROAD) LIMITED

NORTHCOUNTRY HOMES (SITE 1) LIMITED

NORTHCOUNTRY HOMES (SITE 2) LIMITED

NORTHCOUNTRY HOMES (SITE 3) LIMITED

NORTHCOUNTRY HOMES LIMITED

NORTHERN BALLET LIMITED

WOODBINE COTTAGE LIMITED

Former Directorships (previous five years)

GLEESON CLASSIC HOMES LIMITED

GLEESON DEVELOPMENTS (NORTH EAST) LTD

GLEESON DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED

GLEESON LAND LIMITED

GLEESON LAND (FLEET) LIMITED

GLEESON PFI INVESTMENTS LIMITED

GLEESON REGENERATION LIMITED

GLEESON SERVICES LIMITED

HAREDON DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED

JDP CONTRACTING (HOLDINGS) LIMITED

JDP CONTRACTING SERVICES LIMITED

JDP BUILDING & MAINTENANCE SERVICES LIMITED

MJ GLEESON PLC

M J GLEESON (INTERNATIONAL) LIMITED

M.J.G (MANAGEMENT) LIMITED

M J GLEESON GROUP LIMITED

Mr Harrison was appointed director of JDP Contracting Services Limited in March 2008.  JDP Contracting Services Limited subsequently appointed an administrator in August 2018 and was dissolved in November 2021 while Mr Harrison was still a director.  The deficiency to creditors was approximately £154,184.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.

The person responsible for this announcement is Matthew Robinson, Chair.

Enquiries

Inland Homes plc Tel: [phone]

Matthew Robinson, Chair

Jolyon Harrison, CEO

Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited Tel: [phone]

Dominic Morley / James Sinclair-Ford (Corporate Advisory)

Tom Scrivens (Corporate Broking)

 

END