The saying is true – time really does fly doesn’t it? Especially when you’re having fun. With the average amount of time staying at a company here in the UK being five years, according to research by life insurance firm LV=, those who make it beyond that milestone must have found some real affinity with the company they work for.

You can ask Christian, he’s our Business Development Lead who has recently celebrated his tenth anniversary here at Joseph Homes. We asked Christian some questions to get some insight into why he’s stayed with the company for a decade.

Tell us about your role here at Joseph Homes and your background? 

I trained as a barrister and spent a year working for a Private Equity firm before Joseph suggested I join Joseph Homes for a few months to see what I thought of the property industry. And here we are 10 years later.

My role at JH has primarily been to source land, and I brought in what I believe was our first self-delivered site in June 2011. It was a 1-bedroom home in Belsize Park that we extended into a 2-bedroom home, so looking at our Highams Park and Gravesend developments tells you something of the journey the company and I have been on.

I’ve recently moved into the newly created Business Development department, where I’m responsible for helping the business grow and meet its strategic objectives. Lockdown has made for a tricky start to the year, but I’m looking forward to things opening up again in time for a busy summer.

What do you like most about working at JH? 

The thing that’s kept me at JH for so long is Joseph and Paul’s ambition for the company, and the opportunity to be part of creating something great. Very early on, we discussed one day being big enough to attract investment from pension funds and other institutional investors, and how important it was that we do things the right way and build a reputation in the market for honesty and integrity. We’ve now succeeded in those goals, and I’m excited to be part of building on them.

The Christmas parties are pretty amazing too!

Tell us about the best day you’ve had a JH? 

Definitely 23rd December 2014, which was the day we agreed exclusivity to buy Addiscombe Square in Croydon from Royal Mail. It was the first large-scale development site Joseph Homes had bought, and it gave the company recognition in the market at a time when we were still relatively unknown.

What is your biggest accomplishment? 

I think buying Number One Millbrook. We had bid on an earlier phase of Millbrook Park a few months earlier and narrowly missed out, but had put a lot of work into building a good relationship with the landowners during the bidding process. How good an impression became clear a few months later when they allowed us to buy the next phase off-market, something they hadn’t done for any other developer. It was a great moment to visit the site later on and see our name alongside the likes of Taylor Wimpey and Countryside on the Millbrook Park entrance sign.

How has the company changed in the last 10 years? 

It has definitely become more structured. For my first few years we were a very small team, which meant each of us often needed to do multiple jobs at any given time, and generally just help out wherever we could. As well as buying land, I was involved in the commercial and production side of our first few projects, and most importantly, I was also in charge of stationery.

The other big change is the management team. It has been amazing to work with, and learn from, some of the most experienced and knowledgeable people in the industry.

What is the biggest lesson you have learnt while working at JH? 

That a company is only as good as the people working in it. You can have as many great ideas as you like, but if you don’t have the right people to implement them, they don’t mean very much.

Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years? 

Hopefully continuing to grow alongside the company, and DJ’ing at DC10 in Ibiza!

Find out more about more members of the Joseph Homes team here!