What Richborough does

Richborough is a UK-based independent land promotion company founded in 2003 and headquartered in Birmingham, with additional regional offices in London, Manchester, and Nottingham. The company enters Planning Promotion Agreements with landowners, taking on all financial risk to design a deliverable masterplan, navigate the UK planning system to secure consent, and then market the consented land through competitive tender to a maintained network of volume housebuilders and commercial developers. Landowner counterparties (farmers, private estates, institutional holders) are fragmented; buyer counterparties are concentrated among the UK's largest housebuilders, with whom Richborough operates a Disposals Database.

The company operates two divisions: Richborough Estates for residential promotion and a wholly-owned subsidiary, Richborough Commercial, focused on industrial, logistics, and employment-space developments. Its project portfolio spans mixed-use sites such as the 55-acre Congleton scheme (sold to Clowes Developments), the 111-acre Oakwood Park site in Wimborne (delivered with Cala Homes), and the 110-acre Lutterworth logistics site near Magna Park. Since founding, Richborough states it has facilitated 30,000 new homes, 5 million sq ft of employment space, and £8bn of Gross Development Value, with over 10,000 plots in its Northern planning pipeline as of March 2026.

Revenue is earned on a contingent transaction-fee basis: Richborough receives its share only when promoted land is sold, exposing the model to planning risk, sales-cycle timing, and UK housing-market cycles. Recent strategic activity has centred on institutionalising the business: a multi-million-pound debt facility from Homes England (April 2026), the appointment of a senior CFO (May 2026), regional leadership hires, and an active regulatory workstream including a planning appeal for a 700,000 sq ft logistics scheme at Junction 9 of the M42. There is no disclosed institutional or private equity ownership; the company is independently held.

Name

Richborough

Legal name

Richborough Limited

Website

https://richborough.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Richborough is a UK independent land promoter that secures planning permission and sells residential and commercial land on behalf of landowners, taking all financial risk and earning fees only on land sale, with a buyer network of major national housebuilders.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Strategic Land Promotion Services

NAICS

Land Subdivision (2372), Land Subdivision (237210), Land Subdivision (23721)

SIC

Land Subdividers & Developers (No Cemeteries) (6552), Real Estate Dealers (For Their Own Account) (6532), Real Estate (6500)

akta.pro primary industry

Land Brokerage (Raw Land & Development Sites) (FSAEAJAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

New Construction & Builder Sales (BPAJAAAB), Residential Land Development & Subdivision Homebuilding (Build-to-Sell Communities) (IMAFABAL)

Keywords

• Strategic land promotion
• Planning promotion agreements
• Residential land promotion
• Commercial land promotion
• Planning permission services

Headquarters

HQ city

Birmingham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Planning Promotion Agreement (success-based fee): Richborough enters into Planning Promotion Agreements with landowners. The company designs a deliverable masterplan, navigates the complex planning system to secure consent, markets and sells the land on the open market through competitive tender, and appoints the right development partner. Richborough takes on all the financial risk and only receives its share when the land is sold. This is a performance-based, transaction-fee revenue model where payment is contingent on successful land sale.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Richborough is a strategic land promotion business that helps landowners unlock the development value of their land by securing planning permission and selling consented sites to housebuilders and commercial developers. It enters into Planning Promotion Agreements under which it designs deliverable masterplans, navigates the complex UK planning system on the landowner's behalf, markets the consented land through competitive tender, and appoints a development partner — taking on all financial risk and only receiving its share when the land is sold. The company operates residential (Richborough Estates) and commercial/industrial (Richborough Commercial) divisions across England.

Product overview

Richborough is a UK-based land promotion business offering strategic land promotion services to landowners. The company operates two main divisions: Richborough Estates (residential land promotion) and Richborough Commercial (commercial and industrial land promotion). Through Planning Promotion Agreements, the company takes on financial risk to bring forward landowner land through the planning system, designing deliverable masterplans and appointing development partners via competitive tender. The company has delivered 30,000 new homes and 5 million sq. ft of employment space, with £8 billion in Gross Development Value across its portfolio of residential, commercial, and mixed-use development projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Residential Land Promotion End-to-end land promotion service for residential development: Richborough designs a deliverable masterplan, navigates the UK planning system to secure consent, markets the consented land to volume and mid-market housebuilders through competitive tender, and appoints a development partner. Aimed at landowners with residential development potential and at housebuilders seeking consented land.
• Commercial Land Promotion & Planning Land promotion service focused on commercial, industrial, logistics, and employment space developments. Richborough Commercial secures planning consent, navigates Section 106 obligations, and disposes of sites to commercial developers such as Clowes Developments. Aimed at landowners with commercial development potential and at commercial developers.
• Planning Promotion Agreements Contractual agreement where Richborough takes on all financial risk to bring forward landowner land through the planning system. Richborough designs a deliverable masterplan, secures planning consent, markets the land via competitive tender, and appoints the development partner, with payment contingent on successful land sale. Aimed at landowners.

Quantifiable outcome

• 30,000 new homes facilitated
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers18 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• MyPadminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 6 March 2026Residential developer MyPad purchased a site in Ellistown, Leicestershire from Richborough for a scheme of up to 75 affordable homes, with Stonewater as the registered provider partner.
• BromfordminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 January 2026Richborough partnered with Bromford to deliver new affordable homes in Wychbold, Wychavon. Richborough secured planning consent and confirmed Bromford as the development partner for the 17.3-acre residential scheme.
• Cala Homes ThamescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2023Cala Homes Thames was appointed to bring forward Oakwood Park at Land north of Merley, Wimborne — a 111-acre site where Richborough secured outline planning permission. Cala Homes is currently delivering the development.
• Clowes DevelopmentscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 March 2021Clowes Developments was appointed as the commercial development partner for the Viking Way, Congleton project (Viking Park), a 23-acre extension to Congleton Business Park. Richborough sold the site to Clowes following outline planning permission secured in March 2021.
• Barratt DevelopmentscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMajor UK housebuilder listed as a development partner, acquiring promoted land sites from Richborough through competitive tender processes.
• RedrowcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMajor UK housebuilder listed as a development partner. Redrow acquired land at Claro Road, Harrogate (Granby Meadows) from Richborough and is delivering the 95-home scheme.
• Taylor WimpeycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMajor UK housebuilder listed as a development partner acquiring promoted land sites from Richborough.
• VistrycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMajor UK housebuilder listed as a development partner acquiring promoted land sites from Richborough.
• BellwaycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMajor UK housebuilder that acquired Flitt Leys Close, Cranfield from Richborough in September 2025 for a scheme of up to 180 homes.
• StonewaterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegistered provider partner for the Ellistown, Leicestershire affordable housing scheme, working with developer MyPad on the 75-home development promoted by Richborough.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Bellway: UK volume housebuilder disclosed as a Richborough development partner (e.g., Flitt Leys Close, Cranfield) with its own in-house land buying capability, representing overlap with Richborough's land pipeline end-buyer demand.
• Barratt Developments: Major UK volume housebuilder and listed Richborough development partner, also operating in-house land acquisition capability and therefore both a customer and a competitive force in land origination.
• Persimmon plc: UK's largest volume housebuilder and parent of Catesby Estates, operating its own strategic land function that competes with Richborough both for landowner agreements and as an ultimate buyer of promoted sites.
• Cala Homes: UK premium housebuilder delivering consented Richborough-promoted sites (e.g., Oakwood Park, Wimborne) and operating its own strategic land team across the South of England and Scotland.
• Vistry Group: UK housebuilder with significant partnerships housing and strategic land capabilities, disclosed as a Richborough development partner and competing for both landowner mandates and consented land supply.
• Taylor Wimpey: Large UK volume housebuilder that is both a disclosed Richborough development partner (acquiring promoted sites) and an operator of its own strategic land team, representing a dual-role competitor-customer dynamic.

Direct peers

• Hallam Land Management: One of the UK's largest independent strategic land promoters, operating a Planning Promotion Agreement model analogous to Richborough's, securing planning consent on landowner-owned land and selling to housebuilders via competitive tender.
• Catesby Estates: UK strategic land promoter wholly owned by Persimmon plc, operating an option-promotion model on residential land virtually identical to Richborough's Planning Promotion Agreements and competing directly for landowner mandates.
• Clowes Developments: UK commercial and industrial property developer that is both a Richborough commercial partner (acquired Viking Park, Congleton) and a participant in the strategic land promotion market for logistics and employment space.
• Gladman Developments: UK strategic land promoter with a Planning Promotion Agreement model closely comparable to Richborough, focused on residential-led sites and selling consented land to volume housebuilders.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Richborough