Richard Sexton joins Houzecheck
Surveying veteran Richard Sexton has joined PropTech surveying portal HouzeCheck.
Sexton, who previously worked for mortgages valuations firm e.surv – part of LSL – joins as the commercial director.
He reports into HouzeCheck’s chief executive, Amit Bansal, the tech entrepreneur who founded the business in 2018.
Following a career in sales, Sexton joined General Accident Property Services, the business that went on to become LSL Property Services PLC, in 1991.
He was part of the management buyout team that took the business into private ownership in 2004 – and which subsequently floated the group on the London Stock Exchange.
He held several management positions in LSL’s property services, asset management, and, latterly, valuation divisions during his tenure – with a focus on B2B business development and relationship management.
Until his recent resignation, Sexton was the longest serving board member of e.surv, LSL’s surveying and property valuation brand.
His recruitment follows the appointment of industry stalwart and former chair of the RICS’ residential body, Paul Latham, as HouzeCheck’s new chairman.
Sexton said: “HouzeCheck already has a modest presence amongst estate agents, conveyancers, and mortgage brokers – all of whom can earn a passive income by introducing HouzeCheck to property buyers.
“I’m here to develop these channels across England and in Wales and accelerate the reputational growth of the brand. As part of that, I want to position HouzeCheck not only as a leader in residential property surveys but also as the champion of all property transaction professionals, supporting them as they look to grow their revenues.
“Given HouzeCheck’s cutting-edge technology helps us to deliver a faster service to our customer – our average report time is 3 days – we should be helping to drive transactions forward, too: buyers who have commissioned a survey from us are less likely to pull out once they have sunk that cost and use the report to negotiate as needed to conclude the transaction with increased certainty.”
Amit Bansal, founder and chief executive of HouzeCheck, added: “Alongside Paul, Richard brings a wealth of industry experience to the business, and I am confident he will help drive our vision forward and shape the future of HouzeCheck.”
Croudace Homes appoints three new directors
Croudace Homes has appointed three new directors as the housebuilder continues to expand its operations and aims to double its turnover from £200m to £500m by 2033.
Zara Barrow has joined as build director in the North region, Adam Ainsworth as commercial director and Simon Halfhide as sales and marketing director in the South region.
Barrow held previous roles at Barratt Homes and progressed through various roles, including site manager, project manager, and eventually group construction director at Redrow.
As the new build director for the North Thames region at Croudace, she will lead and support the build team.
Ainsworth has 20 years of experience in construction and housebuilding, starting as a Trainee Quantity Surveyor in 2005 and working his way up through roles at various developers, including Berkeley, Redrow, and Crest Nicholson. As commercial director at Croudace, he oversees all commercial activities for the South Thames region.
Ainsworth said: “I had been aware of Croudace for many years as my stepdad worked for them in the late ’80s, and coincidentally, my first house was a Croudace home built in the 1960s. I knew they had a very positive reputation with their supply chain, as well as for building quality houses and developments and providing excellent customer service. Personally, I enjoy being part of a business that genuinely cares about the product it builds and the culture it creates.”
Halfhide brings a wealth of experience, having worked in the industry for 39 years as an estate agent before moving to Ballymore, Redrow Homes, Telford Homes, and now Croudace. Simon will be responsible for driving the growth of the sales and marketing strategy as the company’s development pipeline continues to expand.
Adrian Watts, CEO at Croudace Homes, commented: ” As we continue to grow our business, we’ve needed to expand our team to support our regions. The appointments of Adam, Simon, and Zara highlight our commitment to enhancing our portfolio and delivering high-quality homes and first-class service to our customers.”
Strategic promotions at Vail Williams
Vail Williams has made four strategic mid-year promotions as business demand continues to grow.
These include a regional managing partner, new head of development, new partner and a surveyor.
Charlie Nicholson has been named Vail Williams regional managing partner for the Surrey region, based in Woking.
He has 20 years’ experience in the UK property market, specialising in the acquisition and disposal of commercial property.
David Podesta, who has been promoted to head of development and is based in the firms South Coast region, joined the firm as an associate in 2024, and has more than 25 years’ experience in the property sector.
He has worked extensively in residential development and also as an estate manager for a Russell Group University.
Based in Southampton, Podesta is experienced in both residential and commercial asset classes, and his property background includes expertise in estate/asset management, lease advisory, disposals and acquisitions, facilities management and, most recently, residential development.
David has particular expertise in the purpose-build student accommodation sector, having worked on projects that have delivered in excess of 2,500 beds of student accommodation – including both direct let and those with university lease/nomination agreements.
He also has a specific interest in regeneration and working with clients to master plan their landholdings in order to optimise the value from urban brownfield sites.
Matt Doe, who has been promoted from associate to partner in Vail Williams’ Thames Valley region, is a lease advisory expert and is responsible for supporting our occupier and landlord clients with their lease review, renewal and restructuring needs.
He joined Vail Williams in 2021 from Smith Price RRG, where he spent seven years specialising in lease advisory work for owners and occupiers of retail property across the UK.
In his role at Vail Williams, Doe is responsible for helping landlord clients to maximise their rental income, whilst supporting occupier clients in mitigating their occupational costs at rent review and lease renewal.
Based in Reading, he also provides advice in relation to lease restructuring opportunities, with a focus on the industrial and office markets in the South East.
George O’Connor, who has been promoted to Surveyor level 2 in the Surrey region, joined Vail Williams in 2021 as a graduate surveyor having graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in real estate.
Based in Woking, he supports the wider agency team in the renting, letting, acquisition and disposal of commercial property. George provides multi-disciplinary commercial agency services across the Surrey region and progressing towards his qualifications with the support of Vail Williams.
Matthew Samuel-Camps, Vail Williams Managing Partner, said the promotions were thoroughly well deserved and recognised ongoing hard work and individual contributions to the firm’s continued business success.
“I firmly believe that Vail Williams is nothing without its people and thus it is very much incumbent upon us to develop and retain our top talent to provide the impetus to further grow the business across all sectors.
“These four promoted colleagues add significant value to our business and we congratulate them for this career advancement. They are part of a very talented, dedicated and hard-working team across all disciplines at Vail Williams.”
Read the orginal article: https://propertyindustryeye.com/comings-goings-273/
