Award-winning Millwood Designer Homes has been rebranded to Elivia Homes Eastern following the acquisition of the Kent-based developer by Elivia Homes in January 2023. The deal saw Elivia expand into Kent, East Sussex and Essex, with Millwood becoming its third region.
The Ashton at Lanthorne Place was awarded ‘Best Family Home up to £750,000’ in the Evening Standard’s New Homes Awards 2023
Millwood builds c.100 homes per year, a range of which recently picked up ‘Best Family Home up to £750,000’ in the Evening Standard’s New Homes Awards 2023. Founded in 1991, it has earned a reputation for individually designed character homes which are in keeping with the natural surroundings of their locality. As with Elivia’s Central and Southern regions, Millwood was also recently recognised by independent market research company In-house, achieving a Gold Award for customer service. Elivia's newest region will report into Group and continue to be run by the existing leadership team under Managing Director Nick Stonley.
Elivia Homes launched its new brand identity and corporate strategy in April 2022, setting out plans to triple in size to a £350m turnover business. The brand proposition, ‘Elevated Living by Design’, reflects a focus on design-led, quality-built and environmentally conscious homes in the most sought-after locations across the South East. This is underpinned by Elivia and its team’s shared set of values - quality, expertise, integrity, passion, progress and sustainable.
In May 2022, the business was acquired by funds advised by Octopus Investments providing the company with several hundred million in growth capital. Little over six months following the acquisition, the Group's Executive Team raised further capital to complete the acquisition of Millwood, demonstrating the confidence and long-term commitment of Elivia's shareholders.
On the acquisition, Chris Chiles, CEO of Elivia Homes, commented: "Over the last few years, we are proud to have built a strong and scalable business, focussed on both organic growth and acquisition opportunities. Millwood was a strong fit for Elivia Homes in terms of product alignment, attractive geography, as well as a shared commitment to sustainable development and great customer experience. What’s more, the acquisition allowed us to move forward on our five-year growth plan, and we were delighted to report significant turnover growth to £118m in the period to June 2022, underpinned by a materially strengthened balance sheet."
Kamal Singh Grewal, COO of Elivia Homes, comments: "Following our successful rebrand of sister companies Vanderbilt and Crayfern to Elivia Homes last year, our investments, innovation and performance have grown our profile substantially across the sector. Onboarding Millwood to the Elivia platform is a strategic move which not only bolsters our presence in the vibrant South East, but also positions us for substantial growth, providing crucial scale to engage with a broader customer base, while optimising efficiencies in land acquisition, production, and sales. Our new Eastern region has a culture and values closely aligned to the Group and have embraced the opportunity the rebrand presents, so customers and suppliers can expect the same exceptional standards of service at every stage."
The newly enlarged Elivia Homes business will continue to focus on the brand's mission to create developments that help people and places thrive. Sustainability is a key focus through innovative fabric-first design, increased adoption of Low and Zero Carbon (LZC) technologies such as air source heat pumps and solar panels, and the group’s widespread adoption of offsite building methods. An ongoing commitment to maximise the biodiversity of its schemes will also continue to enhance the communities in which it builds.
Elivia is targeting a tripling of revenue to £350m, underpinned by a methodical land acquisition strategy. Their £2bn GDV pipeline was bolstered last quarter by a further 14 sites, contributing another 580 homes and further future cashflow certainty. With the company’s ambitious plans for future organic growth and strategic expansion through M&A, coupled with enviable financial backing, the Group continues to target further strategic, subject-to-planning-permission and consented sites to deliver its award-winning homes.
Elivia Homes are now a three region operation with significant reach across the South East