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In  April 1999, at the age of 40, Andy Hill was made redundant from his main board director job at contractor Willmott Dixon, along with another senior colleague. He suddenly found himself without an occupation.

鈥淣either of us saw it coming,鈥� he says, in his quiet, mellow Estuary tones. 鈥淪o, I thought 鈥� what do I do? I hadn鈥檛 been for an interview for 20 years.鈥� It turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to him.

Soon after, he set up Hill, initially as a contractor and then later moving into development. But back then he did not know how successful it would prove to be. 鈥淚 remortgaged the house [to invest in the first development]. Oh yes 鈥� I was all in. It was pretty scary 鈥� pretty scary.鈥�

Twenty-two years later, his bet has well and truly paid off. Hill Group is one of the UK鈥檚 most successful housebuilders and the third-biggest privately owned developer, behind Bloor Homes and Miller, turning over more than 拢650m last year.

Testament to its success is that, despite going through 鈥� in Hill鈥檚 words 鈥� 鈥渢he most challenging year of operation鈥� ever in 2020, the firm still reported revenue growth of 12% and more than 拢44m of profit.

Contractors come and go. If you want to be here to stay, then go down the housebuilding route

Andy Hill, chief executive, Hill Group

Working from its Hertfordshire base as a partnerships housebuilder and a developer of homes in the South-east, it delivered 2,000 homes last year, enjoying a reputation as a producer of quality and well-designed housing. Meeting in his firm鈥檚 offices in a converted mill building just outside the M25, Andy Hill reveals what is coming next for the business, and how his personal experience of illness has helped drive his ambition.

Hill Group鈥檚 first contracting jobs in the early 2000s were for housing associations, with Stadium, now part of Network, giving Andy his first big break. He had set the business up with little more than his black book of addresses and a London telephone number, but from early on, using his redundancy pay-off, he dabbled with development, winning a gong from the Mail on Sunday for British house of the year in 2004 for one of the new firm鈥檚 first developments.

But Hill says it was in 2008, at another construction industry awards do, that he had his lightbulb moment, surveying the other firms with their names up in lights. 鈥淲hat it was telling me was that contractors come and go. If you want to be here to stay,鈥� he says, 鈥済o down the housebuilding route.鈥�

From then the firm dedicated itself to becoming a housebuilder first and foremost, and today its development business accounts for around 60% of its turnover. But it has not stopped investing in construction, and the firm is an established 鈥減artnerships鈥� housebuilder, working with the likes of Swan Housing and Camden council, and late last year selected by Poplar Harca for the 1,750-home redevelopment of the Teviot Estate.

Growth is definitely top of the agenda, with the business targeting a doubling of turnover from the 2020 level of just under 拢600m, to 拢1.2bn by 2025. Hill, a chartered building professional, says that the target 鈥� broadly equating to 15% annual growth 鈥� is achievable, and given his track record, it would be rash to discount his prospects of hitting it.

At the moment the company boasts a landbank of nearly 7,000 homes, with discussions ongoing over opportunities for another 9,400.

Part of the growth will come from the firm, which has a joint venture with Bristol council-owned housebuilder Goram Homes, setting up a new South-west region from the city 鈥渨hen the time is right鈥�, but Hill has seemingly no end of other initiatives on the go.

These include a low-carbon volumetric housing business with sustainability charity Bioregional, joint venture housing development businesses with both Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire councils, and a new modular venture for housing homeless people.

鈥淲e鈥檇 like to ultimately rival Bloor Homes as the largest private housebuilder,鈥� Hill says, referring to the 拢1bn-turnover developer that has helped to make its owner, John Bloor, the construction sector鈥檚 richest man, with an estimated fortune of 拢1.28bn.

Hill, however, gives every impression of not being primarily motivated by money, and the evidence from the firm鈥檚 developments is of a housebuilder that seeks to enhance value rather than drive out cost to boost profit margins.

The firm generally goes beyond the bare minimum in terms of quality, design and specification. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about being the best and having a fantastic reputation,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what makes me think I鈥檝e done well. It鈥檚 about doing the right thing, not just awards.鈥�

Ironically, this focus on creating value has served the business well during the pandemic, as buyers have prioritised additional space and facilities for home-working as the market has rebounded. 鈥淲e鈥檝e always built larger units than the national housebuilders, and I think that鈥檚 been really helpful to us 鈥� we鈥檝e seen that as a real selling point, and people are willing to pay for that extra space now,鈥� he says.

鈥淚f you can build a two-bed apartment with a study area, or baby room, it鈥檚 ideal right now. We鈥檙e as forward sold as we鈥檝e ever been as a business. Used to have stock numbers of 100, now we鈥檙e down to around 25. We鈥檝e never been in better shape.鈥�

Hill鈥檚 desire 鈥渢o make a difference鈥� has also guided his continued involvement in estate regeneration schemes 鈥� another area where Hill Group seems to have found a happy coincidence between doing the right thing and making a return. With another scheme set to be announced, Hill says the market for partnerships building has 鈥渢aken off鈥� in recent years. 鈥淚t is good business, because the estates come with existing stock, so it鈥檚 not taking a huge land and capital payment up front,鈥� he says. 鈥淵es, you鈥檙e sharing rewards too, so you don鈥檛 make as much profit. But what you do have is a larger site, where you can move tenures from time to time as the cycles change.

鈥淎nd you鈥檙e creating new places. When you do regenerate an area, it does change people; I鈥檝e seen people change their behaviours. I鈥檝e always really enjoyed that side of it 鈥� you can change people鈥檚 lives.鈥�

Drive

Hill himself can argue that he has a fair share of experience in dealing with change. Not only in bouncing back from his dismissal from Willmott Dixon, but also in dealing with a worsening chronic medical condition, muscle channel disease, that has damaged his legs.

It has left him largely confined to a wheelchair in recent years. Now 62, he was unaffected prior to his 40s, but the condition has steadily worsened over the past decade. Characteristically, the experience seems to have simply charged up his focus on driving the business even further. 鈥淚鈥檝e got a lot of things I can鈥檛 do,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 think this makes me very competitive at work as it鈥檚 one of the things I can do still.

鈥淚t might sound a bit sad, but the reality is on a weekend, during the day, it鈥檚 difficult for me to join in with a lot of things. I can鈥檛 really walk anywhere; it鈥檚 really difficult. So this just drives me [in the business] and鈥�, he pauses, and smiles broadly, 鈥淚 just absolutely love it.鈥�

I don鈥檛 want to lose control of the business by going out and getting venture capital money in. Selling it off 鈥� that鈥檚 not the intent

One of the things this drive has been focused on in recent years is a 拢12m charitable project 鈥� devised for Hill Group鈥檚 20th anniversary in 2019 鈥� to provide 200 modular homes for local authorities and charities to use for housing homeless people.

Hill says it has enabled him to help some extraordinary organisations 鈥� such as a charity housing female ex-offenders 鈥� but, typically, there is also an angle in terms of business development.

Setting up the charitable project led Hill Group to invest in a 50% share of a Shrewsbury-based volumetric housing manufacturer, Volumetric Modular. Now, Hill is looking to expand the charitable venture into a business, once the 200 promised homes have been supplied, meeting local authorities鈥� need for temporary accommodation to house homeless households.

This, he says, will see the business set up a bespoke modular housing factory in order to be able to ramp up production. 鈥淚 want it to be part of the business ultimately that adds value, and that stands on its own two feet,鈥� he says, but he insists that the ambition is not for this to build volumetric modular homes for its private sale housing business.

Keeping control

Probably the biggest difference between Hill Group and many other fast-growing regional builders is Hill鈥檚 clear desire to retain control of the firm for the family 鈥� rather than bring in funders to turbo-charge rapid expansion.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to lose control of the business by going out and getting venture capital money in,鈥� he says. 鈥淪elling it off 鈥� that鈥檚 not the intent.鈥�

It is clearly not a model he has much time for. 鈥淭he housebuilders which have got a lot of VCs [venture capitalists] buying people out just recently; they鈥檙e the ones that worry me, because all they鈥檙e going to try and do is build something up out of it [for a business sale].

鈥淵ou do see certain firms are driven to get work, to present their accounts in a certain way 鈥� just anything to add value in the picture frame 鈥� rather than doing the right long-term thing for the business.鈥�

Hill says his group can avoid this because of the comparatively modest dividends taken out by the family over the years, meaning it will be possible to finance all of the firm鈥檚 projected growth without seeking outside help.

鈥淚t鈥檚 how the company has grown 鈥� the money has been left in the business. It鈥檚 all been reinvested, and from that reinvestment we鈥檝e grown,鈥� he says.

Hill is clearly not in the market to grab a single big payday, either, with a clear plan to pass the business on to his sons 鈥� Greg (aged 34) and Tom (aged 32) 鈥� when he retires. Greg is already positioned as deputy chief executive of the business, with Tom regional director running the Cambridge Investment Partnership.

Hill says: 鈥淭here鈥檚 no need, no reason for us [to sell]. I鈥檓 very fortunate; I鈥檝e got succession in the business within the family.鈥�

All in all, despite the challenges of the pandemic and the need to address 鈥渁 few鈥� developments deemed, post-Grenfell, to have dangerous cladding, things look pretty rosy for Hill 鈥� both financially and in terms of Andy鈥檚 wider ambition to put something back.

鈥淐ontributing to some great schemes, and doing some good for those who aren鈥檛 as fortunate as the rest of us,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I鈥檇 like to be known for.鈥� Right now, it looks like he might just manage it.