Sean Ellis has joined Kent house-builder Fernham Homes as managing director, with shares in the business.

At Berkeley he was chairman of St James Group, Berkeley Homes Eastern Counties and St William, formerly a joint venture with National Grid. He is moving from a house-builder that turned over £2.3bn last year to one that turned over £32m.

“When I was approached by the founders of Fernham [Ian Fern and Michael Canham] to acquire equity in the business and to lead the team, I was genuinely excited by the opportunity,” he said.

“I was interested by the prospect of investing in a business which was established over 20 years ago and which has a strong reputation for building premium homes. While they are a well-established business, there is an aspiration among all the shareholders to grow to be the housebuilder of choice in Kent. It is a really exciting time for Fernham Homes and I am delighted to be leading the business into a new chapter.”

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