UK modular house builder TopHat has appointed David Brown, former CFO of construction equipment manufacturer JCB, as Chief Financial Officer following its recent £70 mln (€81 mln) fundraising round.
Brown held the CFO role at JCB - a £4 bn turnover privately held company with significant operations in the UK, India, US, Brazil and China - for almost six years from 2016. During this time, he helped the business successfully navigate the market downturns caused by the pandemic, with JCB Group increasing profit before tax from £130 mln in 2020 to £501 mln in 2021.
TopHat recently raised £70 mln from new and existing shareholders in a round that was led by FTSE-100 house builder Persimmon and institutional investor Aviva Capital Partners.
In addition to delivering up to 800 homes a year from its existing factory in Derby, TopHat is well progressed in building what will be Europe’s largest modular housing manufacturing facility in Corby, Northamptonshire, where it will manufacture up to 4,000 homes a year utilising a combination of cutting-edge robotics and employing 1,000 people.
TopHat is a privately owned business. The business was founded in 2016 by CEO Jordan Rosenhaus and architect and Chief Design Officer Krishan Pattni.??In a recent interview with PropertyEU, the firm said it was entering a period of growth while admitting that planning remains a major hurdle for the modular business.
The full interview is available here
