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Godfather of the hedge fund’, Lord Fink, becomes chair of offsite home builder

Panelised house builder Project Etopia’s main investor, Lord Stanley Fink, has joined the firm’s board as its chairman. 

Described as the "godfather of the hedge fund industry", Fink has been a treasurer of the UK’s ruling Conservative Party, and was chief executive of Man Group, a hedge fund, until 2008.

He has invested £7m in Project Etopia, which was founded in 2015, and which opened a factory in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, with a capacity to produce 2,000 panelised homes a year. 

"The new hands-on role for former Conservative Party Treasurer Lord Fink – until recently Chairman of investment manager ISAM Europe – will help the company achieve its growth ambitions as an offsite construction specialist," the company said in a press release.

It has begun marketing homes in its modular commuter village in Corby, Northamptonshire, where this month the superstructure of the first four houses were finished in just 34 days.

Joseph Daniels, Project Etopia’s co-founder and chief executive, said: "Having the financial backing of Stanley was a coup and to now have him aboard as a fully-fledged executive is an opportunity no entrepreneur in their right mind would miss. 

"The company has grown so rapidly that its internal operations are already far more complex than they were a year ago. Stanley’s experience of building and growing companies is going to prove invaluable to us as an executive team."

Fink said: "I remain utterly convinced that offsite construction will prove to be a major part of the solution to the housing shortage in Britain. Etopia’s challenge will be to keep pace with demand and forge a path as a world leader in modern construction methods."

Image: Official parliamentary portrait of Lord Fink (Chris McAndrew/CC BY 3.0)

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