Eric Grove, who founded Catesby Estates in 2005, is one of the most successful property entrepreneurs in the country with more than 50 years of industry experience.
He remains chairman of Stratford-based Catesby and it is keeping busy. A longstanding plan for an urban extension in Newark in Nottinghamshire looks nearer to fruition now the scheme has been formally included in the towns growth strategy. That’s just one of Catesby’s hefty portfolio of mixed use plots of residential, commercial and mixed use land across the UK. The company has net assets of more than £13 million.
One of Catesby’s flagship projects is Firstpoint - a £200 million 120-acre mixed-use business and retail park near the M18 in Doncaster.
Firstpoint, developed in partnership with Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council and Yorkshire Forward, is also the home of Doncaster Chamber of Commerce.
Firstpoint’s development and rapid big-name letting will give Eric Grove a lot of satisfaction. At 82 he still takes a keen interest in the development of the company.
The £10 million Vantage Point twin unit distribution facility near Fort Dunlop in Castle Bromwich is also a Catesby project.
Catesby has become a specialist in developing brownfield sites and in 2008 established an £80 million joint venture with Bank of Scotland to tackle brownfield sites in London and the south east. The company is also working with local authorities to provide affordable homes for the elderly and key-workers, and also flood alleviation schemes.
The company has major residential developments in Les Arches, Jersey, as well as Harpenden in Hertfordshire and Holsworthy, North Devon.
Eric Grove – who began his career in the 1950s at Stourport-based Thomas Vale Construction - made his fortune after setting up residential property business Canberra Developments in 1968. He sold out to housebuilder Alfred McAlpine 20 years later, netting around £40 million in shares.
A former director of Coventry City FC, he now lives in Warwickshire. His other business interests include a stake in a property investment company.
