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two million homes by 2050. The target is to build around 50,000 a year to 2027 and 70,000 annually thereafter.

It’s quite a challenge: achieving it requires a more progressive approach to building homes and communities than the traditional.

It has completed projects in Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales, in sensitive rural settings such as Delamere Forest, Cheshire, and on industrial brownfield sites like Bromborough in the Wirral, Merseyside. It has built and delivered over 1100 homes in 14 locations, with another 1700 in development. Turnover to the end of May 2021 was nearly £80 million; payroll was around 100. Both are reported to have risen subsequently.

Richard believes in a true partnership approach, in both directions on the value chain. He volunteers the following insights in a series of blogs on the Lane End website. “SME construction companies like Lane End can move light-footedly across the sector in land procurement, working with a solid supply chain base to deploy all the disciplines that housing associations themselves don’t have internally,” he says. “We have a purpose-built vehicle for procurement of land, which works from initial and detailed appraisal to the diligence needed to administer any risk and enable the safe delivery of government grant-funded housing.”

While being ready and willing to provide additional support services to customers, Lane End is, primarily, a building company – one with a laser focus on quality. This approach enabled it to grow so fast and to reach a leadership role so quickly. Richard maintains that traditional housebuilders are not the organisations that can deliver the homes the country and the region desperately need, for commercial and cultural reasons. The profit-driven mindset is not the same as the partnership approach.

“Strong collaboration, working shoulder to shoulder, allows both RPs and SME building companies visibility and transparency,” he continues. “They know each other’s strengths and attributes and can focus together to make a positive difference, to come together and merge skill sets to deliver the numbers needed. It is only through the RP sector that this will happen.”

Richard sounds positively evangelical in his enthusiasm for social and affordable housing: he clearly is committed to the cause and the sector.

“Nothing gives me greater satisfaction than seeing a family enjoy one of the properties we spent a great deal of time, care and expert skill in building,” he says. He emphasises that Lane End takes the same approach across all homes, from a one-bed apartment to a huge extra care unit. “The location and build may be different but the standards are the same.”

For Richard and Lane End, the commitment does not end when the keys are handed over. In June 2017, it launched New Beginnings, a Community Interest Company (CIC), as a means of giving back to the communities it serves and builds.

“Although we may only be on site for a relatively short period of time in each area, we like to provide sustainable support and make contributions to the surrounding area that have a lasting, positive effect,” says Kate Harrison, CEO of New Beginnings CIC, in a recent newsletter. “Our approach sees us not just contributing monetarily but also investing time in helping not for profit and community organisations in our areas to understand how to truly create a lasting and sustainable positive change, through mentoring or sponsorship, to investments of time or resources. We are involved in tackling social problems, improving local people’s life chances, providing training and employment opportunities, supporting communities and helping the environment.”

But even the most honourable intentions can only be successful if they are built on a solid foundation.

“As Managing Director, it’s my responsibility not just to be fully immersed in the short term and what sites we have today – my focus is also on long-term planning and securing the business for the next seven years and beyond,” says Richard. Working closely with and knowing the supply chain is crucial. “We can tailor the supply chain more efficiently and hand over jobs to them that suit them best. Not every subcontractor we use can move towards a large scheme, so allocation and deployment depends on resources they have themselves.”

Lane End is creating a culture where suppliers consider themselves to be embedded with the team and its values. It recently held two engagement days with the supply chain and will be continuing with that approach.

“We have become more efficient and we are now attracting different supply chain partners to accommodate the complexities of the contracts we have but more so, it’s about people, processes, and delivery,” Richard says. Lane End is investing in apprenticeships, to attract more youngsters into the industry, and it doesn’t stop there. A major announcement of a new, lightweighted panelised metal system is due in 2023. It will help to greatly improve build speed, while maintaining traditional skills.

Lane End has come a long way in a very short time – and shows no signs of stopping any time soon. ■ www.laneend.org