Honey brings in Herring, lines up more sites
With eight sites secured since its October 2022 launch, the Sheffield housebuilder led by ex-Avant Homes boss Mark Mitchell has swooped for former Vistry head of land Luke Herring.
Mitchell, formerly chief executive of Avant, launched his new venture last year with the backing of private equity house Alchemy Partners, which through its Special Opportunities Fund IV has £937m of fully committed capital.
Honey is now on site with its first scheme in Derbyshire, where it has now exchanged contracts on a second scheme, worth £20m.
A decision is awaited on Honey’s first Yorkshire project, a £23.5m, 95-home development off Barnsley’s Bamburgh Lane, with the project name Iris.
The five other secured sites are located across Yorkshire and the Midlands. Honey is currently in advanced negotiations on seven other sites ranging from Nottingham to Leeds.
Honey currently employs 20 people with a further 15 due to join before the end of September.
Before joining Vistry in May 2022 Herring also worked at Avant, spending around four years at the firm. Prior to that he worked in planning, initially with Rotherham Council and then with Johnson Mowat.
Chief executive Mitchell said: “We have significantly exceeded the expectations we set in our business plan and have developed a great deal of momentum in our first eight months of trading.
“Hiring Luke is a very important appointment for us as it will enable us to maintain this momentum. He is an excellent operator with the capability, drive and ambition to deliver our growth plans to quickly become an established housebuilding brand within the north of England and the Midlands.”
Honey believes that flexibility in living spaces will be important, and is working with 23 house types, with standard features including bi-fold doors and individually designed fully integrated kitchens.
Bathrooms include signature free standing baths and full height tiling. All properties will have an electric vehicle charging point.
In addition, the house types will accommodate the Future Homes Standard which requires all new homes being built from 2025 onwards to produce 75-80% less carbon emissions.
