Manchester-based social impact developers Capital&Centric have appointed experienced property leader Martin Crews as it expands its pipeline of design-led regeneration projects.

Martin will join as Development Director this spring from residential development and management company One Heritage Group. There he led on the consent of One Heritage Tower in Salford and was part of the senior leadership team that listed the business on the London Stock Exchange.

Martin’s previously held positions at CityBlock and Haas Group having graduated as a surveyor from Liverpool in the early 2000s, going on to specialise in the conservation of historic assets.

Capital&Centric’s team expansion comes as it sets about significantly expanding its development pipeline, with a slew of communities on site. They include major projects that anchor town centre regeneration ambitions, including the Goods Yard neighbourhood in Stoke-on-Trent, the historic Weir Mill and design-led apartments in Stockport and the Farnworth Green re-boot near Bolton.

More residential and commercial projects are on the horizon at additional sites in Greater Manchester and Sheffield, with plans afoot to expand to new territories.

Adam Higgins, co-founder of Capital&Centric, said: “It’s been a rollercoaster ride, from launching our first homes in Manchester a few years ago to now working on anchor projects in places like Stoke-on-Trent, Stockport and Liverpool. We’ll be full on this year as we hit some significant milestones at our communities already on site and bring forward the schemes in early gestation. We needed experienced people to drive forward that pipeline.

“Anyone joining our team needs to share our passion for creating places that have a standout identity and real community feel. Martin really fits that bill. His experience of both historic assets as well as new residential is absolutely our sweet spot, and he’ll be leading on schemes with a mix of both.

“We’re always having conversations about expanding to new local authority areas, it just takes the right site with enough potential to hold true to our design-led values. 2023 is shaping up to be a big year and it’ll be great to have Martin be a part of it.”

Elsewhere, Capital&Centric’s Littlewoods Studios – the plan to transform the art deco style Littlewood’s building on the city’s Edge Lane into a TV and film destination – is set to get going on site.

Adam and co-founder Tim Heatley will also be starring on the small screen. Their Channel 4 series ‘The Big Interiors Battle’ is set to kick off soon, with interior designers battling it out to win an apartment at their historic Eyewitness Works in Sheffield.