After five years with the business, Rhys Jones has been promoted to commercial director at Castle Green Homes to support its continued growth.
Rhys, who completed a BSc in quantity surveying through distance learning via the University College of Estate Management, has previously worked in QS roles for Watkin Jones Group, Lovell Partnerships and Jennings Civil Engineering.
He joined St Asaph-based Macbryde Homes, now known as Castle Green Homes, in 2017 and has quickly risen through the ranks, starting as a quantity surveyor, then commercial manager, head of commercial and his more recent promotion to commercial director.
At 31, Rhys is younger than the average first time buyer.
“I’m an ambitious person and was hoping to make director in my 30th year but missed it by a month,”
he said.
“It’s an honour to be appointed as commercial director. I feel privileged to be in this position. I have worked hard since the day I joined the business as Macbryde and have always been aiming for the top. I’m looking forward to supporting the team in my new role, ensuring that we maximize our profits, while still delivering high quality homes and retaining our five-star customer satisfaction rating.
“I am one of many employees who have bought a Castle Green home recently because I’m so proud of the product we deliver.”
Rhys heads up a six-strong commercial team and works across the business to ensure that site teams have the subcontractors and materials required to construct the homes; reporting on profit and loss on all live sites; and supporting all departments within the business from a technical perspective to sales and customer care.
“Our business has changed a lot in a short period of time. We’ve gone from building 100 to nearly 300 homes per annum in the last few years and achieved phenomenal growth,”
Rhys added.
“I think the biggest difference is the size of the sites we’re progressing. Previously we’d build 20 or 30 homes on a site and now it’s 145 at Willow Fields in Warrington and over a 100 on our partnership development with Adra in Prestatyn. This means order values are increasing, but a site of 20 and a site of 100 require the same input from the commercial team.”
Rhys explained:
“Supply chain issues are affecting the construction industry as they are other sectors. These include lead in times for key materials and the prices rising on an almost daily basis. It’s therefore important to have clear lines of communication with our supply chain partners. Working with the planning and construction teams we look at the build programme to order materials early enough to ensure we have sufficient stocks on site to achieve our targets.”
Gwyn Jones, chief executive of Castle Green, said:
“Rhys has been instrumental in the growth of the business over the last five years, and his promotion to commercial director reflects his hard work and dedication. He will have a key role to play in helping ensure that we can take the business to the next level as we target building 500-plus homes a year by 2024.”
Currently Castle Green has new homes available in Dyserth, Denbighshire, and Warrington, Cheshire, with new developments coming soon to Penyffordd and Wrexham, in North Wales, Thornton, near Liverpool and Daresbury and Congleton, in Cheshire.
Find out more about where Castle Green is building via www.castlegreenhomes.uk.
