Darryl Flay and Ray Theakston have resigned from directorial positions in build-to-rent developer Essential Living’s management company.
Former chief executive Flay resigned from Essential Living Management on 8 June, while construction director Ray Theakston resigned on 27 July, according to Companies House. Two employees of M3 Capital Partners, Harold McCarney and Trishul Thakore, are now listed as directors.
Flay remains at Essential Living on the executive board and is responsible for land acquisition, though is no longer chief executive, while Theakston has left the company.
Essential Living announced a change in leadership at the beginning of the summer with the departure of two senior directors – chief operating officer Martin Bellinger and managing director Scott Hammond.
The departures were part of a reported restructure by funder M3 Capital Partners. Since their departure, land director Charlie Hustler has also left.
Hammond and Bellinger, along with Flay, were founding partners of Essential Living Management when it was set up in 2012. Theakston joined in 2014.
Essential Living was backed by $200m (£149m) in equity from M3 Capital Partners, through its investment company Evergreen Real Estate Partners. M3 owns the developer.
It swiftly made some of the most high-profile acquisitions in the newly emerging sector, mostly in London and the South East:
■ 68 flats in Berkshire House in Maidenhead in late 2012;
■ 184 flats at 100 Avenue Road in Swiss Cottage in November 2012;
■ 149 Farrier House in Bethnal Green in May 2013;
■ 118 flats at the Archway Tower/Vantage Point in June 2013;
■ 400 fats at Helix/Infinity Towers in the Docklands in September 2013;
■ 249 flats at Creekside Wharf in Greenwich in January 2014;
■ 550 flats at the Perfume Factory in Acton in July 2014; and
■ 221 flats in Brentford in April 2015.
As of mid-2017, only the Archway Tower and Farrier House were operational, while construction had not started on the Swiss Cottage scheme, owing to planning delays, nor on the 400-flat Helix/Infinity Towers scheme in Docklands.
A deal to acquire 462 flats at Newington Butts in Elephant and Castle in July 2013 fell through in 2014.
Archway Tower and Three Colts Lane are fully let.
M3 Capital said in May that the move would not change Essential’s investment strategy, and that the company planned to buy two or three sites in the year and would continue investing.
The portfolio of sites is not for sale.
A spokesman for Essential Living said: “First movers in any industry face a raft of challenges and with two buildings fully let and another completed this winter, we are doubling down on delivery. The company is on track to deliver the award-winning Creekside Wharf scheme next year and we also look forward to moving into construction shortly at 100 Avenue Road, Swiss Cottage.
“Crucially, having invested significantly into creating new housing at a range of price points, M3 Capital’s Evergreen Real Estate Partners fund is committed to expanding its support and to help deliver one of the UK’s most substantial build to rent companies.”
To send feedback, e-mail alex.peace@egi.co.uk or tweet @egalexpeace or @estatesgazette
