Switching from professional rugby league to quantity surveying has led to Tom Grundy tackling his biggest role yet – as Anwyl’s new managing director for Cheshire and North Wales.
It’s Tom second stint with the homebuilder, following a short time as MD at Eurogold. Tom, from Appleton, Warrington, was previously commercial director for Anwyl Lancashire.
He said:
“It’s a privilege to take on this role and lead such a great group of people. My focus is building on our success across all areas of the business, from construction quality and commercial processes to sales and customer service levels, while ensuring a strong pipeline of new land acquisitions.”
Tom has worked in construction since joining Barratt Homes as a trainee quantity surveyor in 2008.
“As part of the traineeship, I attended Bolton University one day a week to obtain a degree in quantity surveying,” Tom said. “I then joined Redrow in 2013 as a senior quantity surveyor before being promoted to chief QS two years later.”
When Anwyl Homes formed its Lancashire division seven years ago, Tom seized the opportunity to join the forward-thinking company as it expanded into new territory.
Tom added:
“I joined Anwyl Homes in 2017 as a founding member of the Lancashire region. My role developed in line with the growth of the business and I was made group commercial director in 2021.”
Keen to develop his career further, Tom joined Liverpool-based groundworks and civil engineering contractors Eurogold last year, before taking up an offer to return to Anwyl, as managing director, this time based in Ewloe, Flintshire, within the Cheshire and North Wales region.
A construction career was always a natural next step for Tom, after playing professional rugby league for Warrington, Leigh Leopards, and Swinton Lions.
He said:
“My father ran a small building company and so I have been in around the industry from a young age. When my sporting career ended, it was an obvious path for me to take. I have always enjoyed collaborating as part of a wider team and working with a diverse range of personalities and characters to achieve a common goal. It’s always been the part of my work I enjoy most.
“I am looking forward to continuing my journey with Anwyl and building on existing relationships to support the development of our team and the projected growth of the Cheshire and North Wales business.
“I believe that our product and construction quality are second to none, while our people and culture are the business’s biggest strength. We are as proud of this as we are of the quality homes we deliver.”
While Anwyl has set its sights on further growth, Tom is also ready to take on the issues faced by the wider industry.
He added:
“Ongoing challenges remain around the planning system, build costs, and material availability but we have the robust systems in place to tackle these.
“However, market conditions have begun to improve in 2024, and we’re expecting this to continue with lower mortgage rates and an improving economic outlook helping to increase sales volumes and support steady house price growth.”
Anwyl’s Cheshire and North Wales division has 11 live developments across Cheshire, Shropshire, Wrexham, Flintshire, Denbighshire and Conwy, where homes are currently on sale. Work has just started work at two new developments; Dalton Fields, in Chorlton, Greater Manchester, and Lottie Gardens on the Wirral.
