Barwood Land are experienced land promoters with expertise in land acquisitions and the whole planning process through to conclusive sale in doing so bringing quantifiable benefits to everyone each step of the way.

Our story

Barwood Land was formed in 2009 with our initial joint venture with Development Securities PLC. Since our inception, we have been through various rounds of funding and are now part of the joint venture with Alteris Capital Partners LLP. Barwood Land’s head office is based in East Haddon, Northamptonshire giving us a central strategic location for our national outlook.

Over this period our team has grown to support the ever-increasing strategic land portfolio that we are promoting through the land planning process. Our nationwide perspective has meant that in 2018 we established our South West office in Bristol to provide us with a greater presence and manage our portfolio more effectively. Since 2009 we have grown to be one of the UK’s leading strategic land promoters; our current portfolio stretches from South Devon to Yorkshire.

Barwood Land adopts a straight-forward, hands-on and dynamic approach at every stage of the process; from securing sites with landowners and the promotion of sites by skilfully navigating the intricacies of the UK planning system, through to the end sale of the consented land to maximise sale receipts.

We continue to look for quality opportunities, acquiring land by way of joint venture partnership, outright purchase or option. Our agreements are tailored to meet the individual needs of the landowner and the project ensuring we can add real value through our extensive planning and development experience.

Meet the team

The qualities that make Barwood different reflect the passion and the dedication of our team. Every stage is carefully considered and planned down to the finest detail as part of our commitment to deliver the best possible schemes and results for all parties.

Jamie Gibbins

Managing Director

jamie.gibbins@barwoodland.co.uk

Jamie has been the instrumental figure behind the creation, growth and success of the Homes and Land businesses. His business acumen, vision and record in delivering planning approvals and high-quality developments is exceptional, equating to tens of thousands of plots over his career across the Midlands and south of England.

Jamie is a qualified surveyor with over 25 years’ experience in the residential development industry and joined Barwood in June 2009 from Taylor Wimpey Strategic Developments where he was Director of the hugely successful Strategic Land Business.

Sam Dorrian

Land and Operations Director

01604 369224
sam.dorrian@barwoodland.co.uk

Sam joined Barwood Land in 2011 and has been instrumental in growing the business. Sam’s role at Barwood includes the identification and securing of new land opportunities, strategic management of the portfolio, land owner liaison and land disposals. Sam is a Director of the business and sits on the main board alongside Jamie and James. Prior to joining Barwood Land Sam read Real Estate Management at University from where he was recruited by Taylor Wimpey to work in its Strategic Developments division. Sam worked across the Midlands in a number of roles during his 7 year tenure at Taylor Wimpey. Working for one of the leading housebuilders provided Sam with an insight in to the workings of a PLC developer where he gained a great deal of knowledge around the delivery of residential development schemes.

Rebecca Mitchell

Planning Director

01604 369226
rebecca.mitchell@barwoodland.co.uk

Rebecca joined Barwood in September 2012 and is a qualified town planner.
Rebecca has previously been employed by Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners (Lichfields), a leading UK planning consultancy. She was also a Planning Manager at The Co-operative Estates, where she was responsible for overseeing the promotion of sites within its non-trading land and property portfolios and has realised planning permissions for a number of large-scale and high-profile development schemes, including for residential, retail, employment, rural diversification and renewable energy, across the UK.

James Causer

Land Director

01604 369223
james.causer@barwoodland.co.uk

James joined Barwood as Land Director in 2015 following 10 years with Taylor Wimpey Strategic Land, where he was the Regional Strategic Land Director for its South West Division. Prior to that James worked as a land agent within Knight Frank’s residential development team.

James is focussed on securing new business opportunities in quality locations and delivering valuable planning consents. He has developed extensive strategic land expertise dealing with a huge variety of projects ranging from edge of village sites for under 25 homes to new settlements of over 6,000

Chris Chiverton

Land Director

01604 369235
chris.chiverton@barwoodland.co.uk

Chris joined Barwood in 2018 as Land Director for the newly established South West region. Prior to joining Barwood Chris held several senior land, planning and technical roles within strategic land companies and also regional and national house builders. Chris has also spent time as a development consultant and as a land agent with Savills.

Chris’ primary focus is on the expansion of Barwood Land’s presence within South West by adding to its existing portfolio of land under promotion. Having over twenty years’ experience in the industry gives Chris an exceptional understanding and knowledge of identifying, acquiring and promoting strategic land opportunities from large consortium arrangements to smaller higher value edge of settlement sites. The experience Chris has gained working within the house building sector means he always has an eye on delivery and value engineering throughout the lifecycle of a project.

Matt Bartram

Technical Director

Matt is a qualified Civil Engineer with over 20 years’ experience in the private residential homes sector. Matt has worked at several housebuilder developers including Westbury Homes, Miller Homes and Taylor Wimpey.

Matt provides technical input both at the opportunities stage of transaction and as they move through the planning process. He is also focused on delivery of technical information in the land disposal process to developers.

Beth Entwistle

Strategic Planning Manager

01604 369225
beth.entwistle@barwoodland.co.uk

Beth is a Chartered Town Planner with over twenty years’ experience in consultancy and strategic land promotions. Beth has breadth and depth of experience in promoting strategic land portfolios having achieved planning permissions for an array of sites across the country which have included achieving green belt release, local plan allocations and large scale consortium promotions.

Kevin Freegard

Finance Director

01604 369209
kevin.freegard@barwoodland.co.uk

Kevin joined Barwood in January 2014. He is a qualified accountant and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Kevin has over 20 years of experience in the finance sector. At Barwood Kevin is responsible for the overall finance & HR functions.

Julie Morgan

Strategic Land and Planning Manager

01604 369217
julie.morgan@barwoodland.co.uk

Julie is a Chartered Town Planner and Urban Designer and joined Barwood Land in March 2019 having previously held senior roles with both Miller Homes and Severn Trent.
Julie has a wealth of experience in managing Strategic Land portfolios, promoting sites and securing permissions successfully across the Midlands region and adds valuable planning expertise to the Barwood team.

Julie is also a member of RTPI General Assembly, and an appointed Design Council Built Environment Expert, advising on Design Review Panels for major development schemes proposed in the UK.

Sam Wilkinson

Strategic Land Executive

01604 369248
sam.wilkinson@barwoodland.co.uk

Sam joined our team in 2019 from Shoosmiths LLP where he was a General Practice Property Solicitor for 4 years after qualification. He has represented a handful of national, international and household name clients in many different types of transactions.

At Barwood Land, Sam is focused on negotiation and acquisition of strategic sites across the country with the intention of maximising value and improving legal processes.

Jenny Davies

Planning Executive

01604 369222

Jenny.Davies@barwoodland.co.uk

Jenny joined Barwood in April 2022 and is a chartered town planner. Prior to joining Barwood, Jenny was employed by Lichfields, a pre-eminent UK planning consultancy where she specialised in major housing, mixed-use, retail and leisure projects, advising private developers, operators and landowners on a variety of schemes. Her projects included developments in sensitive locations such as the Green Belt and encompassed a range of scales from major urban extensions, strategic employment sites, town centre regeneration projects and private housing schemes.

Illona Taylor

Office Manager

01604 369230

Illona.Taylor@barwoodland.co.uk

Illona joined Barwood Land in April 2022.

Alex Drew

Assistant Strategic Land Manager

01604 369233

Alex.Drew@barwoodland.co.uk

Alex joined the Barwood Land team in June 2022.