Acquisition of Carrington’s HIMOR Group creates £200m turnover business

HIMOR, the strategic land and property company based in Carrington, Greater Manchester, has been acquired by South West residential property developer, Wain Group.

The acquisition is set to boost the land holdings at Wain Group, with HIMOR having amassed over 2,000 acres of freehold strategic land and a further 1,000 acres currently being promoted on behalf of third party landowners.

Will Ainscough, the founder and chairman at HIMOR, has been appointed as executive chairman of the group and Steve Owen re-joins as group finance director. Steve was previously the group CEO.

Richard Bailey, chairman of the northern region for N M Rothschild, has also been appointed as a non-executive director.

As part of the restructure, Wain Group will operate three divisions: Wainhomes North West, Wainhomes South West and HIMOR.

Will Ainscough, executive chairman of Wain Group, said: “The Group has ambitious plans to build on its unrivalled reputation in the housing market and increase house building activity.

“It will also now look to deliver larger strategic schemes. HIMOR will remain focused on mixed-use developments, complicated brown field sites and property investments that have long-term redevelopment potential.

“The new structure is beneficial for both companies; Wainhomes will have access to an even wider land supply whilst HIMOR will be able to utilise the expertise of Wainhomes to bring forward its larger strategic sites into development.”

For the year ending June 2016, Wain Group reported a pre-tax profit of £38m on sales of £168m. The group’s results also highlighted that the gross development value of land under control stood at £2.1bn of which £870m already has planning consents.

The land in development increased from £456m to £605m over the financial year, underlining the fact that land is quickly brought into development when a planning consent is achieved.

Earlier this year, HIMOR revealed plans to promote a mixed use development of 7,500 family homes and 8 million sq ft of employment space on the former Shell refinery in Carrington, Manchester.

Will Ainscough added: “Bill was at the helm of Wain Group for 44 years and leaves the company in excellent health. The combined Group is in great shape to carry this success into the future.”