Ilke hires former Crest boss to drive expansion

Former Crest Nicholson chief executive Stephen Stone has been appointed to the board of modular housebuilder Ilke.

Stone, who led Crest’s recovery from the 2008 financial crisis to its 2013 stock exchange listing, has been appointed to help the business forge more partnerships with institutional investors.

Stone (pictured), who left Crest Nicholson in 2019, is already chair of housebuilder Keepmoat, which had a key role in setting up Ilke in 2017. Ilke’s executive chairman, Dave Sheridan, is a former chief executive of Keepmoat.

Sheridan said that Stone’s appointment would allow the modular builder, which in 2019 secured a £30m investment from Homes England, to “push the pedal down on growth”.

The firm claims a development pipeline of more than 1,000 homes and has in recent months signed deals with The Guinness Partnership and East Midlands Housing Group where it will acquire land, develop and construct homes.

Ilke also agreed a £31 million deal with institutional investor Man Group before Christmas for a 227-home development.

Sheridan said: “Stephen brings years of valuable experience and will play a key role in helping push the pedal down on growth, supporting new partnerships with major institutional partners, such as our recent deal with Man Group.”

Stone said he had been “hugely impressed” by the business, which he said had “tremendous growth potential”.

The appointment is not the first time that Ilke has taken on former Crest employees to bolster its team.

In 2019 the firm raided the housebuilder to appoint the former Crest Nicholson Midlands boss Ben Miller as MD of the firm, subsequently making him chief executive.

In the same year former Crest directors Tristin Willis, Tom Heathcote and Matthew Bench also all joined the business.