Alan Penfold has been promoted to managing director of Present Made, the single-family build-to-rent housing platform of Apache Capital, an investment manager focused exclusively on UK living real estate.

Penfold, who had previously been an executive director at Present Made, will work closely alongside Apache Capital’s CEO John Dunkerley and chairman Mervyn Howard following the departure of founding partner Richard Jackson. 

Penfold spent four years as a director at Apache Capital before moving over to Present Made and brings over 15 years’ experience in housebuilding. Before joining Apache Capital, he held land and development-focused roles at Barratt Homes, Bellway Homes and Crest Nicholson. 

Under Penfold’s leadership, Present Made will broaden its strategy to include working with other developers, including volume housebuilders, as part of plans to rapidly scale the platform.

The Present Made team will be involved in the design and delivery of all schemes to ensure they meet the company’s ESG criteria and brand standards concerning amenity and service provision. Present Made will operate all sites for the long term and is targeting a net zero carbon operational model. 

Launched in 2021 by Apache Capital, Present Made secured its first planning consent in Summer 2022 to develop a 373-home neighbourhood in Eddington in partnership with the University of Cambridge. 

Alan Penfold, managing director at Present Made, said: “My ambition is to build on the excellent work that has been done so far in establishing Present Made as a leading player in the single-family build-to-rent space. 

“The key to success for any operational business is scale and right now we see a major opportunity in working with other delivery partners to rapidly grow our portfolio of sites. 

“We see our emphasis on all aspects of masterplanning and ESG, combined with strong branding that is underpinned high levels of service and high-quality design, as both a key differentiator and source of value creation.

“This conviction will be reflected throughout all our developments, including those delivered in partnership with third parties, all of which we will own, manage and operate for the long term.”

John Dunkerley, Apache Capital CEO, said: “Having been involved with Present Made since concept stage and with a solid background in housebuilding, Alan is perfectly positioned to take the business to the next stage. He brings to the table a wealth of experience and will build on our 15-year track record of delivering high-quality, professionally managed housing.

“From student accommodation through to senior housing and multi-family build-to-rent, our approach has been to work with best-in-class partners to create a leading market product that sets new benchmarks for quality, and we will continue this through with Present Made.

“The market conditions right now favour counter-cyclical asset classes like build-to-rent and we want to work with those looking to diversify into what is a fast-growing sector.

“By accelerating the growth of Present Made through the right partnerships, we can achieve scale faster and drive operational efficiencies without compromising on the qualities that will ensure our investments perform strongly over the long-term.”