We take our weekly look at appointments and promotions across the housebuilding industry and its supply chain.
Martin Wright, Bellway
Bellway has appointed Martin Wright as managing director of its Tamworth-based West Midlands division.
Wright is an experienced land and planning specialist with a 25-year track record in the industry, who moves from a different role at Bellway. He joined the company in May 2025 from David Wilson Homes, where he had spent 13 years as development director, having previously worked as a land and planning specialist in roles for both national and regional housebuilders.
Wright said: “I am excited about the opportunity to lead Bellway West Midlands, a long-standing and well-regarded division within the Bellway group. Becoming the MD of a fully operational housebuilding business was always my goal and this move has allowed me to realise that ambition. Having worked closely with the West Midlands division in my previous role in the business, I have already built strong relationships within the business, so the move feels organic.”
James Thomson, Strata
Strata has named James Thomson CBE as its new non-executive director.
With extensive leadership experience across both the public and private sectors, Thomson brings more than a decade of board-level experience within the housing sector, including senior roles with Keepmoat and MJ Gleeson. His career highlights include supporting the completion of the sale of Keepmoat Regeneration to Engie for £330m, and in 2022, as chief executive, leading MJ Gleeson to a record delivery of 2,000 homes together with achieving top decile employee engagement.
The appointment also comes as Strata expands its geographic reach, with its first development in the North East now underway, supporting the company’s continued growth ambitions.
Thomson said: “I am delighted to be joining Strata at a time when the business has successfully pivoted towards a true partnership model, positioning it to benefit from growth in the housing market. As an inclusive, people centred, design led housebuilder focused on collaboration, community, sustainability, and continually striving for better, Strata’s values closely align with my own.”
Justine Edmonds, Apo Group
Apo Group has announced the appointment of Justine Edmonds as its new managing director, to lead the company’s growth as it expands its operational platform, starting in August 2026.
Edmonds brings more than 20 years of experience in the UK residential property sector to the role. She joins from property services group LRG, where as director, she held national responsibility for the group’s Living Markets strategy.
Edmonds serves on the British Property Federation’s Build to Rent Committee, helping to shape policy and support the continued growth of the UK’s rental housing sector.
She commented: “I’m delighted to be joining Apo at such an exciting time for the business, and look forward to working with its impressive team, clients and partners to build on the company’s strong reputation for delivering best-in-class resident experiences and operational performance across its portfolio. Apo is perfectly placed to meet that demand through its expertise spanning investment advisory, finance, customer operations, safety and compliance, and development.”
Claire Studdart, The Hill Group
The Hill Group has appointed Claire Studdart as head of affordable housing, a newly created role that reflects the Group’s continued growth and commitment to strengthening its partnerships with Registered Providers (RPs) and public sector organisations.
Studdart brings significant experience in affordable housing delivery, having previously worked at Cala Group, where she was responsible for managing affordable housing transactions across multiple regions. During her time there, she was involved in agreeing the sale of affordable homes on over 80 sites.
Earlier in her career, Studdart worked in frontline housing roles within local authorities, including supporting individuals and families facing homelessness, giving her a unique, end-to-end perspective on the importance of delivering new homes.
Andy Hill OBE, founder and group chief executive of The Hill Group, said of Studdart: “Her depth of experience, strong industry relationships and clear understanding of both the challenges and opportunities within the affordable housing sector make her a fantastic addition to the team.”
Mike Woolliscroft, Greencore Homes
Greencore Homes has announced the appointment of Mike Woolliscroft as a non-executive director to help drive the company’s growth plans.
With more than 25 years of extensive experience in residential-led development and major infrastructure projects, Woolliscroft has supported the delivery of large-scale partnerships and delivered multi-award-winning schemes across the country. Most recently, he served as chief strategy officer at Vistry Group and interim chief executive at Countryside Partnerships. Woolliscroft enjoyed building the foundations of his career in residential development over six years with The Berkeley Group.
The appointment follows the recent addition of Helen Moore as board chair.
Wolliscroft commented: “Greencore isn’t like any other housebuilder – it’s pioneering in its approach to building sustainable homes. I very much look forward to building on this well-established SME housebuilder with the board and the senior management team to drive further growth for the business as they continue to expand their operations to build high quality, sustainable homes across the UK.”
Amy Parker, Persimmon Homes
Persimmon Homes has appointed a new finance director for its Portishead-based Severn Valley business.
Amy Parker has taken up the reins having been made finance director designate in May last year. Prior to this, she was the finance manager at Persimmon Suffolk and senior finance manager at Taylor Wimpey South Wales.
Having dropped out of further education three times and working in multiple jobs in her early twenties, Parker started her accountancy career aged 23, qualifying as a chartered management accountant in 2018, training on the job.
Commenting on her appointment, she said: “Having dropped out of college three times and gone through countless jobs in my early twenties, I never believed I’d be here now. I stepped into my first finance manager role with Persimmon in 2018. Back then, becoming a director hadn’t even crossed my mind, but I fell in love with the industry, so much so that it would eventually take me 200 miles away from home.”
Matthew Crucefix, Stonewater
Matthew Crucefix has been appointed as group director of development by Stonewater to drive its ambitious new development programme.
He takes over the role with immediate affect from James Bradbury, who was recently appointed Stonewater’s chief investment officer.
Crucefix previously served as interim director of development operations, where he was responsible for the management and delivery of Stonewater’s development programme across all operating areas, including sale and lettings of new properties. He has worked at Stonewater, and its predecessor Raglan, since 2010, when he joined as a community initiatives officer.
Crucefix said: “I have had the pleasure of delivering a wide variety of development schemes and opportunities in my time with Stonewater so far. It’s been rewarding to manage programmes that have contributed to achieving our ambitious growth aspirations and I look forward to continuing to position ourselves as a leading voice in the sector.
Emma Palmer, Platform Housing Group
Platform Housing Group has appointed Emma Palmer as its new chief executive, commencing 28th September 2026.
Palmer brings with her more than 30 years’ experience across housing associations and local government. Her previous role was eight years as chief executive of Eastlight Community Homes, where she led the organisation through a period of significant growth, organisational change and service improvement. During her tenure, Eastlight grew to almost 15,000 homes and delivered around 2,000 affordable homes.
Throughout her career, Emma has championed customer voice and influence, local decision making and accessible housing. In 2025 she was appointed by the government as Disability and Access Ambassador for Housing and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing.
Palmer said: “I’m incredibly proud to be joining Platform Housing Group at such an exciting time for the organisation. I’m looking forward to working alongside colleagues, customers and partners to continue delivering safe, affordable homes and strong, sustainable communities across the Midlands.”
Multiple appointments, Designer Contracts
Designer Contracts has announced a raft of new appointments, promotions and returners.
Dougie Craig (pictured left) has been appointed regional director for Scotland, succeeding Kenny Collins, who retired at the end of May after 20 years with the company. Craig has worked with Designer Contracts for 10 years, joining in 2016 as a customer service manager.
Yvonne Scales joins the North West branch as a sales manager having previously spent 11 years with Redrow. In the Central region, Jon Hall takes on the role of area manager, joining the company after more than 21 years as a store manager for Topps Tiles. In the South Midlands, Mike Richardson has been appointed as the new area manager.
Further strengthening the South Midlands team is Robbie Budworth who has been promoted to the role of sales consultant. David Kier (pictured right) becomes senior contracts manager with the Scotland branch. Two past employees have rejoined the company: Luke Monteith returns as sales manager at the Thames Medway office; and Antony Partridge comes back as area manager at the Wales and West branch.
Three appointments, IGE Consulting
Geotechnical and ground engineering consultancy IGE Consulting, whose clients include several national and regional housebuilders and local authorities, has promoted three members of its technical team.
Angharad Jones (pictured left) has been promoted to associate director. She has more than 10 years’ experience in geo-environmental engineering and has been with IGE over eight years. She specialises in supporting safe and sustainable development at complex brownfield sites, including ground gas and mine risk assessment.
Alfie Leach (pictured right) has been promoted to principal geotechnical. He has been with IGE almost eight years, joining shortly after completing a master’s degree in geology and earth science.
James Harley (pictured centre) has been promoted to senior geo-environmental engineer. He joined IGE as a graduate engineer in 2019 after completing a master’s degree in earth and environmental science.
Andrew Edwards, director at IGE, said: “Helping our team progress their careers with us is central to our ethos, as is providing opportunities to talented and passionate people to join us.”
