Ciaran Aldridge joins McCarthy Stone from the Aldi supermarket chain, where he had been national property director since 2016, growing the network from about 650 UK stores to more than 1,150 today. He was with Aldi for a total of 16 years.

Aldridge succeeds Ian Wilkins, who retires this month after eight years with the company.

McCarthy Stone’s northern division is currently selling across 28 developments and has 11 under construction. Its land team is looking to buy at least 12 sites per year.

Aldridge will manage the division’s land and construction budget – around £250m over the next three years.

Chief executive John Tonkiss said: “I’m delighted to welcome Ciaran to the business. He has superb knowledge and experience of the development world given his time at Aldi and will be integral to helping us open new high-quality and affordable retirement communities across the north”.

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