The Collapse
In 2008, the worst recession the housebuilding industry had ever seen nearly finished us. We exhausted every cash reserve and fought the banks simply to survive. Despite having assets well in excess of borrowings, they wanted to close us down.
We survived — just. We pivoted away from development and focused on contracting, partnering with housing associations and combining their funding with our delivery capability. We rebuilt the business to £12–14 million turnover.
And then in 2015, Court Homes — the company my father founded in 1969 — went under.
From the outside, a company going bust looks like a business problem. From the inside, it’s anguish.
Taking Responsibility
Whose fault was it? Mine.
For two years I blamed external factors — unpaid partners, the wrong people, difficult market conditions. Those things existed. But the fundamentals were down to me. Lack of structure. Lack of accountability. Lack of process.
That realisation changed everything.
The Rebuild
I rebuilt. I went on to run another construction company to £4 million, again working closely with housing associations.
But in 2019 I discovered mentoring — and realised that construction business mentoring was where I could make the greatest impact for UK contractors.
Every mistake I made at Court Homes is now a system, structure, or safeguard I teach to construction business owners across the UK.
