In a fiercely competitive market for development land, Anderson is investing an increasing amount of time, money and resource into expanding its strategic land portfolio. Anderson Land Director, Rory Anderson, explains how this seemingly higher-risk approach is so far proving to be a highly successful strategy.

Every developer the length and breadth of the country will tell you that securing sites is one of the most bureaucratic and time-consuming elements of the development process. You can either pay a premium for a site with planning permission, which is often accompanied by predetermined restrictions on what you can and can’t build – or you can take a risk on buying a site without planning, on which you could sit for years while the cogs of officialdom grind away with no guarantee of a decision going your way.

Both courses of action have their pros, cons and associated risks, but a third way of navigating the land acquisition dilemma has become more and more common. Armed with the appropriate experience, political understanding and a great deal of patience, developers such as Anderson are adopting a far more strategic, long-term approach to acquiring land, and are now beginning to reap the rewards.

You’re up against thousands of landowners competing to have their sites released. It’s a bit of a mosh pit.

“Every five to ten years, every local authority up and down the country has to produce a new or revised local plan,” explains Anderson land director, Rory Anderson. “This is essentially a plan that ensures they’re set to deliver enough housing and supporting infrastructure to meet population growth and ensure the economic viability of towns and cities.

“When the doors open at the beginning of a local plan process, anyone that wants to earmark their land for a residential allocation and the value that status brings will put their land into the mix as part of the call for sites process. You’re up against thousands of landowners competing to have their sites released. It’s a bit of a mosh pit.” Adds Mr Anderson.

With the average local plan taking up to 10 years to be put into action, savvy developers monitor this reverse land grab from the outset and gauge which sites are being identified as suitable – a process alone that can take up to five years. Once the preferred sites have been draft allocated for residential development by the local authority, any developers who had been unable to secure land interests earlier in the process then compete to secure arrangements with landowners to secure the land, formalise the allocation and then pursue a planning permission, this process can take up to a further five years in many cases.

“In a nutshell, we enter into an option-to-purchase agreements with landowners, which generally speaking obliges us to promote the land for residential development at our own cost through the local plan process with the ultimate aim of first securing a residential allocation and second securing a planning permission. Typically, the purchase price is based around a discount of 10-20 percent of the future open market value of the land based on and triggered by the planning permission obtained.

“These agreements are time-bound, usually around five to 15 years and developers can pay landowners significant premiums for the benefit of the exclusivity.”

At Anderson, we sell ourselves as something different to the other PLC housebuilders and we know our USPs.

A recent example of such an agreement is the proposed Forest Drive project, located on the outskirts of Theydon Bois, Essex. This 16-acre parcel of former farmland, found on the edge of Epping Forest within London’s green-belt, will (if planning permission permits) accommodate up to 38 new homes along with the potential for community open space.

To gain the confidence of the landowner of the Theydon Bois site, experience and reputation was paramount. With over 30 years in the construction industry and over a decade as a leading developer, Anderson were well positioned to portray their credibility and track record the seller. It also helped that Rory Anderson grew up in the area, thus adding an element of personal knowledge to the Anderson proposition.

“At Anderson, we sell ourselves as something different to the other PLC housebuilders and we know our USPs. Plus, the landowner had seen what we’ve done locally over the years and he bought into it,” claims Mr Anderson.

However, winning over the landowner and securing an option-to-purchase agreement, is only stage one of the process. The next step is to convince both the local authority and the local community that the development is in their interest – a process which in itself is no mean feat.

“Essentially, once a draft allocation is secured it’s a case of working with the Local Planning Authority to get that local plan adopted by the planning inspector, which usually takes two to three years. It’s down to us and the council’s planning officers to convince the planning inspector that the proposed allocation is sound, and that we’re there to deliver it.”

Again, this is where experience, reputation, political nous and patience are required to get a project across the line.

“Local plan processes are open to political manoeuvring, delays and legal challenges that can hold them up for years,” cautions Mr Anderson. “As you’d expect, they upset a lot of people, especially those who don’t want the housing. It’s a very emotive process and it’s not a vote winner. So, you get a lot of politicians, who are ultimately the decision makers, sitting on their hands and not wanting to make decisions.

Even with every moving part of the procedure addressed, there is no guarantee that a local plan will be accepted. The local plan of St Albans in Hertfordshire has been in process since 1992, while the city of York has, to date, never adopted such a plan.

In the meantime, though, it is hoped a final decision will be delivered on Forest Drive within the next 12 months. What’s more, Anderson were recently successful in securing a 220 unit residential allocation in Grantham, Lincolnshire, and a 70-acre commercial allocation in Cambridge – of which both were secured through a local plan process.

As for considering a career in land acquisition – or more specifically strategic planning – Rory Anderson sees it as something you have to learn on the job.

“It genuinely is one of those roles that you have to learn by experience. They can teach you planning, whilst the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and local policies provide further parameters to work within, but it’s the social, political and economic sides you pick up through experience.”

The hot-headed, fainthearted and impatient need not apply.

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Starting out at Anderson’s head office in Chelmsford, over 100 riders will be heading out across the Essex countryside on an exciting 55-mile ride, stopping off on the way to take part in our famous team quiz.

Each rider is expected to raise a minimum of £150 which, as before, will be donated to the National Autistic Society.

We rely on the generosity and support of our staff, partners and clients to raise both funds and awareness for our chosen charity. Therefore, please feel free to invite colleagues and friends to join the ride.

Click here to secure a place >

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Having been named Bovis Regional Contractor Award two years in a row, and having also recently landed Taylor Wimpey East London’s Regional Subcontractor of the Year award, we spoke to Anderson Group Production Director,  Steve Howe, to find out what’s behind the company’s winning formula.

Over the past 30 years, Anderson has grown to become one of the UK’s leading construction contractors and developers. But in this hugely competitive industry, reputations are hard won and doggedly maintained. So, what is Anderson’s secret of weathering economic turbulence while attracting new business – and retaining staff for decades in an industry plagued by employment transience? Steve Howe simply puts it down to Anderson’s people…

“Personally, I pride ourselves on the team ethic we’ve got at Anderson and that’s been generated by working closely together,” explains Mr Howe. “Our business is privately owned and, if you ask any of the other directors, the business is very much about the people.

“No one is more important than anyone else and we’re always keen to listen to new ideas. There’s a lot of people doing what we do, but we wouldn’t be the business we are without our people.”

We supply all of our guys with branded workwear, we have new vans, we have new plant, we invest a lot of money in this element.

Great teams though, simply don’t fall together. They are formed over time, through ensuring every employee knows what is expected of them, what their role means to the bigger picture and how recognised and valued they feel in the workplace. It also helps if the environment in which they work is well ordered and ultimately safe.

“We want to operate in a clean and tidy manner on a building site. Housekeeping is always top of our list. We supply all of our guys with branded workwear, we have new vans, we have new plant, we invest a lot of money in this element. We also pride ourselves on keeping people safe. Health and safety is key.”

There are a lot of employees in the business with up to 30 years’ service which, in this industry, is incredible.

This ethos is one of the reasons Anderson bucks the trend of poor staff retention in the construction industry. Over 65 of the company’s 400 strong workforce have been with the company for over 10 years, with an average period of service across the Anderson workforce of 6 years (the typical tenure for a UK construction worker is less than one year according to employment website, Indeed).

Mr Howe elaborates, “There are a lot of employees in the business with up to 30 years’ service which, in this industry, is incredible. In construction, you find a lot of people move around for an extra £5 a day or whatever people are offering, but generally we don’t tend to lose staff, which is a credit to the business as a whole.”

As for the adding to the bulging trophy cabinet, Mr Howe is modest yet hopeful, “We don’t set the year out to try and win awards. We do what we do, day in and day out, and if that leads to an award, then fantastic. It’s not part of our focus but if it puts us into a position of being one of the leading contractors in this area, then I’ll take that.”

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Having supplied gunpowder since the 16th century for both military purposes and the blasting of canals and railways, the facility finally closed down in 1934 owing to its vulnerability to air attack.

The 131-acre site was subsequently repurposed for mineral extraction with most of its buildings demolished. However, a cluster of derelict structures remain, some of which are Grade II listed.

When restored, the buildings will form a cultural and heritage hub for the proposed Faversham Lakes development of 330 homes.

In addition to providing a visitors centre for the accompanying country park, the proposals put forward offer a community resource with a performance space along with a new HQ for the 8th Faversham Sea Scout troop, which has been based at the site for over 40 years.

Anderson’s Senior Planning Manager, Tom Pike, was pleased to see the results after many months work: “We believe that the proposals unveiled recently to key local stakeholders will secure the future of these important heritage buildings, bringing them to life for the benefit and enjoyment of residents across Faversham for many years to come.”

Project page

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So much so, that over £1m has already been spent ensuring the natural habitats of newts, snakes and other reptiles, along with a wide variety of bird species, are successfully protected and emboldened.

Having lain derelict since the former quarry was repurposed as landfill for World War II bombing demolition, a unique ecosystem had established itself on the site, which provided an exciting challenge to Anderson when the development company first sought to clear the area.

“The whole site is classified as a  Site of Interest for Nature Conservation (SINC),” explains Anderson senior planning manager, Tom Pike. “Basically, the whole site is protected, but some areas have more ecological merit than others.”

Working with local conservation groups, Anderson set about identifying and eventually relocating the wildlife into the designated ecology area, which lies to the eastern boundary of the 54-acre site and will eventually be accessible to the public via a raised viewing walkway.

This bulk of this rigorous process took place while the site was being planned but the site clearance could not begin until all of the wildlife had been migrated.

“We surveyed [the site] for nearly two years before we actually started doing any work. Before you start developing you have to have a certain window of not finding anything,” added Mr Pike.

In addition to the public eco-walkway, over 800 trees are set to be planted in and around the ecology area and over 200 bird boxes are to be installed.

With completion of the entire development estimated for the middle of the decade, the Quarry will eventually encircle up to 900 homes, a state-of-the-art three form entry primary school and a central park that will run the entire length of the site from north to south.

The Quarry project page

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In January 2020, nearly six years after plans were first envisaged, the main circular structure of the new school was completed, with the occasion marked by a topping-out ceremony.

This ancient tradition dating back to Nordic times, used to see a tree planted at the top of the tallest building as a peace offering to the gods. Although usually interpreted these days in a more health & safety friendly way, the topping-out convention survives and is a significant moment on all Anderson builds.

“It’s probably not sensible to put a tree on the top a building now,” remarked Andrew Jay, Group Managing Director of Anderson.

“But what we did was, from one of the trees that had to be taken down to create the access to the site, we took a piece of that London plane tree and had it carved as a piece of history which has now been embedded in the roof of the building.”

In a fog-bound ceremony on 22 January 2020, as watched over by around 60 of the project’s stakeholders, the leader of Bexleyheath and Crayford Council, Teresa O’Neill, set the brick-shaped carving into a plinth on the roof of the new primary school.

Ms O’Neill said of the honour, “Being leader for a long time, means you see things like this from start to finish, which is really very exciting for me. It’s very easy to look at drawings on a piece of paper, but this is what makes it all real.”

Also in attendance at the ceremony was Claire Ingrams, Executive Head Teacher of the Woodland Academy Trust: the academy charged with running the three-form-entry school. Having been directly involved in the planning process, Ms Ingrams was excited to see the progress.

“Coming on to the site for the first time is just inspiring. It’s quite a magnificent build. The scale the size, the space the children will have within their classrooms, the courtyard and all the other designated areas.” said Ms Ingrams.

Speaking of her work with Anderson on the school’s plans, Ms Ingrams added, “I’ve been learning lots of new terminology and learning about regulations, and being able to ask those questions, it’s been a very open process and It’s been great to have that dialogue.”

With a significant number of awards already won for the project – including a nomination for ‘Best Education’ project at the New London Awards 2019 – chief architect Christophe Egret, of Studio Egret West, was also impressed with the results so far.

“It’s a very proud moment,” said Mr Egret at the ceremony. “The school will be really important for the next generation. The height of a classroom, the quality of the daylight, what you see from the windows in terms of landscape, of plants, of all the woods and all the ecology around us. All these are part of the learning process of a young child.”

The 54-acre housing development in which the school is located, sits on the site of a long-abandoned quarry and World War II bomb damage landfill. To realise the site’s enormous potential, Anderson partnered with London based housing association and residential developer, L&Q.

In attendance at the event on behalf of L&Q was Joy Millett, Head of Joint Ventures, Development and Regeneration, who said of Anderson’s involvement, “This scheme wouldn’t have come to market had it not been for the expertise of Anderson.

“Working with them, we’ve been able to bring on board our experience in development, sales and marketing and that has married very well with Anderson’s experience in construction.”

Speaking after the ceremony, Andrew Jay reflected on the significance of the project to Anderson, “This scheme really helps demonstrate what we’re really about. The business is all about making a difference.

“Our ethos is ‘building value together’ and the fact that there is a mix of units on the site, different house types and the school, means this all becomes part of an existing community, but is a new place with the existing community. So, it really does underpin what we’re trying to achieve as an organisation.”

The Quarry project page

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Led by Council Leader Teresa O’Neil OBE, the special ‘topping out’ ceremony saw the last concrete being poured into the structure of the new facility.

The Lime Wood Free School is a new primary school, being created as part of The Quarry development at Erith.

The school will be run by the acclaimed Woodland Academy Trust, which governs seven schools in Bexley. It will cater to up to 650 pupils from nursery up to year six.

Alongside supporting families moving into the new development, the school will also function as a hub for the local community, with its main hall and sports facilities open to groups outside of school hours.

The Quarry is an impressive eco-development being built on the disused Erith Quarry site, which was neglected for over 30 years.

The scheme is being delivered by partners L&Q and Anderson, who have designed the scheme to have sustainability at its heart, with high quality homes integrated with community facilities, green spaces and excellent transport links.

Alongside the school, the completed development will provide up to 900 new homes, including affordable homes, community facilities, retained ecological areas and new open spaces.

Cllr Teresa O’Neill, Leader of Bexley Council said, ““The topping out ceremony at the Erith Quarry school really brought home how iconic the school will be and how lucky the future pupils will be – a real investment in the future of our borough and we’re proud that the Council helped make it happen.”

Andrew Jay, Group Managing Director at Anderson said, “This historic builders’ rite marks the completion of the concrete structure here at Lime Wood Free School. It’s a joyous occasion that stems from Nordic culture, and one which marks good progress with the School to date.

“The Quarry is living proof of our ethos of Building Value Together. We have an excellent working relationship with our partners L&Q, Bexley Council and the Department for Education which continues to drive the success of this new community in the heart of Erith.”

Neil Davis, Regional Development Director (South London) at L&Q said, “We’re proud to be celebrating this major milestone with our partners. The Lime Wood Free School will help to educate local children for years to come, playing a central role in the thriving community we’re building at The Quarry.

“Our vision for this development was always an environment where families and communities can grow. From affordable homes to community facilities, green spaces and sustainable infrastructure, this is just another reason why The Quarry is a great place to live.”

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The determination, which took only three months, sees approval of details to deliver 130 high-specification homes (85 open market houses plus 45 affordable homes), public open space and children’s play.

Sean Emmett, Group Development Director at Anderson, said: “The former orchard site in Chilton is an opportunity for Anderson to set a benchmark for quality of development in an area earmarked for growth.

“Working with the community, including our neighbours, local councillors and the Parish Council, we have in front of us a scheme which delivers new and affordable homes for local people, a homage to the site’s surroundings through public art and a real chance to deliver public open space on a previously private site.”

Tim Chilvers, Planning Manager at Anderson and project lead, added: “The collaboration between Anderson and the planning team at Babergh District Council continues to show the best of development and we hope that this continues as we deliver for Chilton and its residents.”

Click for project page

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The London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) was deemed to have wrongly refused permission for the site back in January 2019.

Planning Inspector Jennifer Vyse DipTP Dip PBM MRTPI concluded that the proposed development would not be harmful to the character or appearance of the Fish Island and White Post Lane Conservation Area, would result in considerable heritage benefits, met the local policy tests for outstanding architecture, and would not be unacceptable to adjacent buildings.

Tom Pike, Senior Planning Manager at Anderson and project team lead, commented: “We welcome the decision that planning permission should be granted.”

“The fact that this decision is one of a small number of appeals to have has been allowed within the LLDC area speaks volumes to the quality of the development proposals before us.

“For more than five years we have continually sought to work with local stakeholders, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and LLDC in bringing forward a scheme that meets local demand and sees the preservation of unique heritage assets in turn. We remained confident of the true public benefits of the scheme, and that has ultimately been justified through planning permission having been granted.”

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New contracts were won and new staff recruited, while numerous awards and nominations were gratefully (and gracefully) received. New developments were secured while others reached completion, thus resulting in new homeowners starting exciting new chapters in their lives.

The group continued to raise extraordinary sums of money for good causes, most notably the National Autistic Society, all through exhaustive and exhausting fundraising activity undertaken by a large number of our committed employees.

All in all, for Anderson, 2019 was a pretty good year.

Below, we’ve rounded up some of the big (and small) numbers that have defined Anderson’s 2019. We hope those of you who work with us and alongside us can take some pride in them.

We look forward to the new year and the new decade, confident that our team and those that work with us will continue to propel Anderson into a secure and successful future.

£125m
group turnover 2018/19

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