Cherry family housebuilder appoints chief executive

Cherry family housebuilder Stonebond Properties has appointed chartered accountant Andrew Cornelius to be group chief executive of the expanding firm.

Essex-based Stonebond, set up 40 years ago by Alan Cherry, the founder of Countryside Properties, is now controlled by his sons, Graham and Richard, whose involvement in Countryside ended in 2019.

Cornelius (pictured, left) joined the business in 2019 from Countryside, where he had been group financial controller, having previously spent six years working at Berkeley Group. He was promoted to chief operating officer at Stonebond in November last year.

The Cherry brothers now plan to grow Stonebond, which built just over 40 homes and turned over £21m in 2019, into a 1,000-home per annum housebuilder by 2025.

The Chelmsford-based business has already announced the creation of a second region based in St Albans, Hertfordshire, and a third region from offices in Sevenoaks, Kent. The firm currently claims a pipeline of more than 800 homes with a development value of more than £500m.

>> Interview: Richard Cherry of Stonebond

In February Stonebond was picked by master developer Urban & Civic to build the first homes at its Waterbeach Barracks development in South Cambridgeshire.

In a joint statement, Richard and Graham Cherry, co-chairmen of Stonebond, said they were delighted to announce Cornelius’ appointment. 

“We are delighted to confirm Andrew’s appointment as Group Chief Executive. Since joining us in 2019 he has successfully led the strategic direction and regional growth of the business.

”His background in finance coupled with his strong commercial acumen and ability to influence others, ideally positions him to lead the expansion of the Group to deliver 1,000 homes per annum by 2025.”

Cornelius said: “We have very ambitious growth plans underpinned by our robust mixed-tenure strategy and our exceptional team of people which provides us with the ideal operating platform for future success.

“I look forward to working with all of our stakeholders to deliver upon our exciting growth plans in an ethical, environmentally responsible and sustainable manner.”