Cala Group
Founded as the City of Aberdeen Land Association in 1875, Cala is one of the UK’s larger housebuilders working across Scotland, the Midlands, and the South East and completing around 2900, mainly up-market, units in 2021 with an average selling price of £462,000.
Since 2018, the company has been owned by financial group Legal & General and Cala Group is the parent company for both Cala Homes and Legal & General Homes.
Based in Staines near Windsor and led by CEO Kevin Whitaker, the group operates through eight regional businesses in what have traditionally been seen as some of the strongest markets. These are: Chiltern, Cotswolds, North Home Counties, South Home Counties, Thames, East of Scotland, West of Scotland and North of Scotland. The L & G Homes brand operates across Berkshire and Oxfordshire.
The group has ambitions for growth; before the sharp rise in mortgage rates and slowing in house sales in autumn 2022, its plan was to expand its build programme to more than 3,200 homes in 2022 with a medium term goal to raise revenues from £1.24 million in 2021 to £1.8 billion by 2026.
In terms of scale, the group started building work on 23 new sites in 2021 – each averaging 82 new private homes – which will eventually provide some 1 890 homes. The group started 2022 in good shape with 994 forward private sales, worth around £488 million. The group employed 1259 people, as at December 2021.
Meanwhile, the group has an owned and contracted land bank of some 20,673 plots (equal to 6.7 years supply) with a gross development value of some £7.9 billion and a further 12,109 plots of ”strategic” land. To maintain its land bank, the group added 3 231 plots across 25 sites during 2021 of which 78% were in England and the remainder in Scotland.
In the latest annual report published in March 2022, Kevin Whitaker highlighted a ‘very successful ‘ year for the business in 2021 but pointed to challenges on cost inflation along with abour and materials shortages. As well as growing the business, the group was also focused on improving its operational and financial performance.
Financials
To see the financials for Cala Group (Holdings) Ltd., go to Companies House and use company ID 08428265
Cala Group re-bounded strongly from Covid in 2021 with 2,904 completions – up from 1835 in the previous year – from 94 sites. The group made 2 307 private sales at an average selling price of £462,000 and some 597 affordable homes sales. In the year to December 2021, the group’s £1,241 million revenues (up from £713 million previously) were split between private housing £1 038 million, affordable housing £127.2 million, managed jv’s £23.6 million and land/other sales £51.9 million. Meanwhile its gross house sales margin improved to 18.3% and its operating margin stood at 11.8%. Pre-tax profit before exceptionals leapt to £132.7 million from £24.4 million and the group’s return on capital jumped to 14.9% from 4.1%. As at end-December 2021, the group had net debt of £50.5 million, down from £120.2 million previously.
Operations
Cala Group is continuing to expand and acquire new sites. In November 2022, the group’s South Home Counties business acquired a new site in Tonbridge, Kent, with potential for 125 new homes.
The group’s Southern Home Counties regional office has also moved from Farnham to Dorking in Surrey to be closer to what it sees as rapidly expanding areas across Surrey, Sussex, Kent and south London. A new MD of the division, Rupert Home, has recently been appointed with a remit to strengthen the group’s presence in Kent and aim towards a target to build 600 homes a year by 2026.
In late 2022, the business also acquired a 23-acre former agricultural site near Chichester with permission for 118 new homes, (including 36 affordable) and a site in Waverley,Surrey with a draft allocation for 90 new homes.
In Scotland, Craig Lynes has recently been named as the new head of Cala Homes (East), taking over from David McGrath, who is regional chairman. The division covers south and east Scotland from its Falkirk offices, and is the group’s largest UK region employing 190 people and more than 600 contractors. It is currently working across 12 sites.
Elsewhere, the group’s North of Scotland business has been recruiting to develop its land strategy across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire; it is looking for sites with potential for 30 homes or more of all property mixes, particularly in commutable areas to the city.
Glenigan data
Glenigan data highlights various new developments where Cala is due to start work in the year ahead. Detailed plans have been submitted by Cala Homes (Thames) for an £18.55 million scheme of 115 flats and a neighbourhood centre at Worting Park, Basingstoke, where work is due to start in late spring 2023 and run for 12 months (Project ID: 21543029). Meanwhile in Scotland, Cala Homes (East) is progressing plans for a £9.9 million homes development with infrastructure and landscaping at Corseduick Road, Aberdeen, where work could start in spring 2023 and run for two years (Project ID: 19127947).
Conclusion: strong land bank and established regional brands should serve it well
From its roots in Aberdeen, Cala Homes has grown into one of the country’s largest housebuilders with a strong regional spread in some of the most promising markets across England and Scotland. Having staged a spectacular recovery from Covid, the group remains ambitious for further growth, reflected in its recent site acquisitions in the Home Counties south of London. The sharp deterioration in the housing market in late autumn 2022 may well slow the pace of the group’s expansion. But longer term, its strong land bank, established brands and exposure to the premium end of the market should serve it well.
How to win work with Cala Group
The group puts a premium on quality; it secured a Housebuilders Federation 5-star rating in 2021 and 16 of of its site managers were ‘Pride in the job’ quality award winners.
Key contacts
Daren Vythelingum, Group Procurement Coordinator at Cala Homes
Telephone: 01628 536200
Email: daren.vythelingum@cala.co.uk
Duncan Alexander, Procurement Manager at Cala Homes West Scotland
Telephone: 01324 600000
Email: duncan.alexander@cala.co.uk
Robert Matthews – Senior Buyer – Cala Homes North
Telephone: 01707397100
Email: robert.matthews@cala.co.uk