PlaceFirst appoints operations director

Build-to-rent developer PlaceFirst has hired Wilf Larder to manage its construction subsidiary, PlaceFirst Construction.

Larder’s immediate remit will include a regeneration scheme of 76 homes in Hartlepool, a site of 300 homes in Liverpool, a 50-home scheme in Morecambe and a 70-home scheme in Leeds. He will be based in Manchester.

Larder joins the company having spent 20 years at specialist housebuilder PJ Livesey, where he was responsible for a wide range of projects nationwide, including small niche schemes, the redevelopment of period and listed buildings and major regeneration projects.

Following a funding deal with ESO Capital in May 2016, PlaceFirst is set to deliver an initial 1,000 units across the North of England on sites that it has secured.

PlaceFirst Construction was established last year and acts as the company’s in-house construction division.

Larder said: “I was attracted to PlaceFirst as an exciting commercial business that takes a completely different stance to everyone else in the housing sector, putting quality and social impact on an equal footing to its commercial objectives.

“I’m looking forward to being part of an experienced and energetic team that is delivering high quality housing across the North of England for those families that have been let down by the current housing market and the poor state of the private rented sector for families.”