Hamer Boot to oversee £1.4bn developments pipeline at Henry Boot

Henry Boot has promoted Hamer Boot, the great, great grandson of its founder, to the role of managing director for the group’s development business, HBD.

Boot joined Henry Boot Developments (HBD) in 2013 from CBRE, bringing more than 20 years’ real estate and finance experience to the division, with the last six years spent as executive director for investment and funding.

In December last year, Boot began overseeing the HBD Strategic Board as part of organisational changes, while reporting to group CEO, Tim Roberts.

He started his career at investment bank JP Morgan Chase and said he was “delighted” to be taking up this new role.

It follows the news group chief executive, Tim Roberts will shortly be succeeded by Edward Hutchinson as CEO, as Roberts prepares to step down after six years in the job.

Hutchinson is currently interim managing director of Stonebridge Homes, a house building company partly owned by Henry Boot.

Hutchinson joined HBD in 2004 and is currently overseeing Stonebridge’s integration into the wider group.

During that time, Stonebridge has experienced positive demand, with net private reservations in line with last year (0.41 for the 18 weeks to 17 May 2026) and 58 per cent of stock sold for 2026.

HBD is also said to be enjoying “healthy” demand, particularly from industrial and logistics (I&L) work which rose by 8 per cent in the first quarter, atop a £1.4 billion divisional pipeline.

Its secured programme of work, worth £66 million GDV and £18 million to the wider group, is proceeding on schedule and within budget, with all projects for the I&L sector and most developed via Origin, Henry Boot’s joint venture with Feldberg Capital.

Occupancy interest is also strong across the wider I&L pipeline as well as Origin’s 711,000 sq. ft project portfolio.

Henry Boot’s flagship development, Golden Valley, in Cheltenham, worth £1 billion, recently secured planning for Phase 1, which includes the 160,000 sq. ft National Cyber Innovation Centre (IDEA), with outline consent also granted for 443 more homes, bringing consented plots to 1,019.

Banner Plant is trading in line with expectations, with its Road Link A69 contract concluded at the end of March.

And Hallam Land has exchanged on 465 plots, with a further 2,181 under offer across 5 sites, which are all scheduled to be completed this year despite transactions taking longer amid a more cautious atmosphere in house building more generally.

Bosses said the group’s financial performance will be “weighted heavily” towards the second half of 2026 due to land sales and development completions, anticipating PBT of £20.2 million under current macro conditions.

Outgoing chief executive, Tim Roberts said: “Demand remains resilient for our high-quality residential land, prime industrial developments and premium homes. While all our businesses made a good start to the year, in recent weeks we have seen early signs that the conflict in the Middle East, together with increasing domestic political uncertainty, is affecting confidence levels. Buyers are generally more considered in their approach, and larger transactions in particular are taking longer to complete. We are also seeing some evidence of cost inflation driven by higher energy and build material prices, although we continue to work closely with suppliers to mitigate the impact.”

Henry Boot was contacted for further details.

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