McCarthy & Stone

History

John McCarthy and Bill Stone entered into a partnership in 1961, and in 1977 they built their first retirement housing development in Hampshire. Subsequently they ceased other building work to concentrate on developing specialist housing for elderly people. By 1982, when the company was floated on the Unlisted Securities Market, McCarthy & Stone had completed 15 retirement housing developments and was selling around 200 units a year. Growth was rapid after the flotation, and by 1984 the company operated on a national basis with annual sales approaching 1,000 units. The business was exceptionally profitable due to a rapidly ageing population. Annual sales reached 2,601 units in 1988.
McCarthy & Stone was de-listed from the London Stock Exchange in December 2006 following a successful takeover bid of over £1 billion from a consortium including David and Simon Reuben and Sir Tom Hunter. The company was refinanced in August 2013 under new ownership and was re-listed on the London Stock Exchange in November 2015. In March 2017, McCarthy & Stone became the only UK housebuilder, of any size or type, to win the full five-star rating in the Home Builders Federation's customer satisfaction awards for a record 12 consecutive years.

Operations

In 2010, McCarthy & Stone took its management services in-house, ending its long relationship with the management company Peverel. McCarthy & Stone Management Services provides services and support in its Retirement Living and Lifestyle Living schemes, while the company has entered into a partnership with Somerset Care, one of the largest not-for-profit care companies in the UK, to provide management, support and care in its Retirement Living PLUS schemes. This partnership is known as YourLife Management Services.