Senior living provider Birchgrove has hired Russ Beresford as development director to help fuel the company’s growth.
Beresford has more than 20 years of experience in the property development industry and prior to joining Birchgrove he was head of development at co-living operator The Collective. He has also held held roles at Landsec, Blackstone Property Management, Hammerson and Lendlease.
Honor Barratt, CEO of Birchgrove, said: “At Birchgrove we’ve always been experts on senior living. However, we recognised that there was a wealth of knowledge we could bring in from outside our particular area that could help us grow the business at the scale needed to meet the huge demographic shifts taking place in our society. According to CBRE research, the UK already has a 614,000 shortfall in senior living units and that number is only going to get larger if estimates on the number of people renting in retirement are to be believed – a Pensions Policy Institute report published last year predicted that by 2041, 17% of pensioners will be renting privately.
“We’re delighted to have secured someone with Russ’s background, who has expertise in many areas that I don’t. We believe he can help us expand at scale, as well as making sure we’re planning our developments so we’re running buildings efficiently for the long term, maximising sellable area and constructing buildings with flexibility as our customers change in the future.”
Beresford added: “This post is a development professional’s dream – a well-backed company with huge expansion plans and an emphasis on innovation. I’m looking forward to playing a role in the company’s growth.”
