Tim Seddon, the chief property officer, has been appointed as the successor to chief executive Will Bax

Axa-owned Retirement Villages Group has announced that its chief executive Will Bax will step down after five years in the role.

Retirement Villages Group

Source: Retirement Villages Group

Tim Seddon (left), RVG’s new chief executive and Will Bax, the outgoing chief executive

He will be succeeded by Tim Seddon, the current chief property officer, who has worked closely with Bax since he joined in 2020.

Seddon will take on the role of chief executive immediately, and Bax will remain with the business until September to advise him.

As a member of the executive team, Seddon has been responsible at different times for development, property services and sales and marketing.

In Seddon’s new role as CEO, his main focus will be on business continuity and working with the executive team to deliver Thrive Living’s current strategy.

Under Bax’s leadership and backed by RVG’s owner AXA IM Alts, the alternative investment arm of French insurer Axa, RVG has developed a model for “urban, socially connected, sustainable retirement communities.”

The first of these communities, Thrive Living, will open in Chester at the end of 2024, followed by West Byfleet and Tunbridge Wells in 2025.

In 2021, Retirement Villages Group (RVG) unveiled a £2 billion, 10-year development programme aimed at establishing 40 new sites across the UK.

Seddon is also a non-executive director at Populo Living, Newham’s wholly-owned housing company.

Before joining RVG, he was the regional property director at housebuilder St. Modwen for 13 years, and prior to that, he worked at Landsec for 12 years.

RVG stated that Bax joined RVG in 2019 “with a mandate to modernise the company and focus the business on creating a brilliant resident experience”.

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They said that he has “transformed the company’s culture, improved its operational efficiency and overseen a major programme of investment in the existing village estate”.

Will Bax, chief executive of Retirement Villages Group, said: “The past five years have been the most rewarding period of my working life. We have changed the strategy and culture at RVG by creating a people and purpose-led business with an important mission - to create positive life choices for older people. Although I will miss my colleagues and the residents hugely, I am delighted to be handing over to Tim as CEO. He is a great leader, brings enormous passion for RVG and the sector and our current and future residents could not be in better hands.”

Tim Seddon, chief property officer, commented: “Will has made a big impact on RVG and the later living sector. I am committed to continuing with his purpose-driven approach to enhancing the quality of life for our residents and providing better options for people entering later life – more choice, flexibility and freedom. The strategy at RVG remains unchanged, and the team and I are looking forward to leading the business through a fascinating next chapter of growth.”