The way retirement looks is ever-changing. With over 40 years’ in the industry, we at Retirement Villages Group are eager to create properties that cultivate the retirement lifestyle that people want both now and in the future.
It’s about more choice, more flexibility and more freedom. Over 65s are using retirement to master hobbies, meet friends, travel and try new things. However, there isn’t enough retirement housing in the UK that facilitates this way of living, which is why we’re determined to partner with others that share our vision and close the current housing gap.
Our Development team are at the forefront of this. With a combined 150 years’ experience in UK property development, planning and project management, they’re looking for a range of different partners committed to creating sustainable, rewarding developments that contribute to local communities.
We have ambitious targets that we’re determined to reach: 5,000 homes in 40 new schemes over the next ten years. And in the hands of our expert Development team, these targets are coming to life. Each scheme is whole-life, net zero carbon and will offer an integrated community experience to residents and locals.
Meet the team managing our new and existing property developments, and get to know who you could be working with in the future.
Duncan Matthews
Development Director
As Development director, Duncan oversees the development programme for the Retirement Villages. This focuses on our new Thrive Living sites as well as development related work on our existing villages. The development team leads on land acquisition, design, planning permission, legals and project management for the construction.
Duncan has over twenty years’ experience working in residential led development, including 14 years at a highly successful PLC developer where he was a board director. His passion is for quality design and placemaking, ensuring our villages offer the best experience not only for residents but also the wider community and the environment.
Neal Haywood, Director of Project Management
Neal heads the project management team who are responsible for delivering our schemes from the pre-construction period all the way through to handover to our residents. His involvement commences with land acquisition, seeking to de-risk opportunities, appointment of consultants, to the optimisation of the design brief and technical input into the design to establish the best platform for obtaining planning permission. His team takes the lead when it comes to the procurement and construction of both the new build projects and enhancing our existing property portfolio.
Before working with Retirement Villages, Neal spent 15 years in construction companies and 15 years with a leading developer.
I’m driven by the social imperative of the retirement sector. Our core mission is to enhance residents’ quality of life with thoughtful, community-led homes.
I joined RVG at the perfect time - when AXA IM Alts new ownership and Will [Bax, CEO]’s fantastic vision first came together.
Alex Williams, Senior Development Manager
Alex became a Chartered Surveyor in 2015 working in commercial property and land valuation before moving to a development role for a large national house builder in London. He joined the RVG team in 2020.
Currently, Alex is working hard on a myriad of projects supporting the team on land acquisition and planning as we grow the portfolio of urban communities that will become part of the Thrive Living collection, these developments will seek to fully integrate with the local community.
Terry Unitt, Senior Project Manager
As Senior Project Manager within the Development team, Terry is focused on establishing a sustainable development platform for Retirement Villages Group, kick-starting new developments and growing our portfolio.
Terry has been managing and coordinating site developments for almost 20 years in the UK and Australia, working on everything from bid management to design management and reviews.
Right now, Terry is heading up our flagship, Botanical Place project in West Byfleet, as well as our urban living community in Tunbridge Wells. These state-of-the-art properties will feature over 150 apartments each, as well as amenities including cafés, restaurants and wellness centres. Big projects, but in very capable hands.
I am inspired by the challenges the senior living market offers and how Retirement Villages have a real opportunity to make an impact in the sector.
Jack Stirling, Development Manager
Jack joins the team with 8 years of experience in the later living sector. He will be the lead on our Botanical Place development at West Byfleet, the flagship in our Thrive Living collection. Jack is passionate about the sector and believes it is essential to offer great developments to those looking for choice as they age. He is adept at working with internal and external stakeholders, keeping projects on track and ensuring they are delivered to the highest standards.
Additionally, he will assist our team in implementing Landlord Improvement Plans across several sites in our portfolio.
I’m passionate about people, design, place making and leaving the world in a better place than I found it.
Lee De Souza, Senior Project Manager
As Senior Project Manager, Lee supports the Development team during the pre-construction stages through to leading the delivery and completion of the new build projects. He is also involved in the improvement and value enhancement of our existing portfolio, where we are looking to achieve net carbon zero targets.
Lee has been honing his project management skills for over almost ten years across an array of efforts and projects. He is currently working on our peri-urban Thrive Living collection development at Chester and various existing communities where we are looking to update the amenities inconjunction with residents.
Lorcan Barker, Project Manager
As Project Manager, Lorcan supports the team in landlord improvement works across existing villages and new build projects.
With an impressive background spanning ten years in construction management, Lorcan is eager to channel this experience into supporting sustainable project developments. And, he’s doing just that at a number of communities where improvement work is taking place including Thamesfield.
I enjoy diving into the detail, from pre-construction through to operations, ensuring we build the best homes for our existing and future residents.
Becs Gallimore, Project Manager
Becs is a Project Manager within the team and supports on landlord improvement plans across the existing portfolio of communities.
She has worked on a number of refurbishment projects within the later living sector before and brings extensive knowledge of live environments to the team. Her current focus projects at Cedars Village and Castle Village, where we are looking to refurbish the clubhouse building that form the hub of these amazing communities.
Together, our Development team will create 5,000 new, sustainable homes, across 40 new communities, that will support the retirement lifestyle over 65s want while improving the quality and longevity of our existing community portfolio.
With an impressive collective skillset, our team will acquire land, secure planning permission, and complete the builds at net zero carbon.
If you’re a land partner looking for a business to work with, you can find out more about our future development projects as well as details on our site requirements. Alternatively, reach out to the Development team directly.