Appointment
Hill appoints John Fitzgerald to lead two regional businesses
By Staff Writer | 12 August 2026
The former Telford Homes group managing director joins Hill in a newly created role overseeing its Eastern Residential and Western businesses, as the group targets £2.3bn of turnover by 2030.
Hill has appointed John Fitzgerald as managing director of two of its largest regional businesses, Eastern Residential and Western, in a newly created role.
Fitzgerald brings more than 35 years of experience in construction and house building. He began his career at Willmott Dixon before joining Furlong Homes, then spent more than 20 years at Telford Homes, where he rose to group managing director. He worked alongside Hill founder and chief executive Andy Hill during their early careers at Willmott Dixon.
The hire comes as Hill presses ahead with a five-year growth plan to double annual turnover to £2.3bn by 2030.
What the role covers
The two regions include several major live developments: Marleigh Park in Cambridge, Little Chalfont Park in Buckinghamshire, Canalside Quarter in Oxford, Whalebones Park in Barnet and Sawyers Close in Windsor.
We have an ambitious vision for the future of Hill, with a clear strategy to grow the business significantly over the next five years while remaining true to the values that have underpinned our success.
Andy Hill, founder and chief executive, Hill
Why an appointment belongs in an order book
Senior appointments are ordinarily read as company news rather than market news. They belong here because a doubling of turnover inside five years cannot be delivered from the existing operation alone, and the person appointed to run two of the largest regions is the person who will decide what that operation bids for.
For subcontractors and consultants, the practical signal is a change in the volume and type of work coming to market from these regions, and in the procurement approach used to buy it. Appointments at this level ordinarily precede that change rather than follow it.
The named developments give a reasonable indication of where the immediate activity sits, though a growth plan of this scale implies land and pipeline beyond the schemes currently under way.
The career behind the appointment
Fitzgerald began at Willmott Dixon before joining Furlong Homes, then spent more than 20 years at Telford Homes, rising to group managing director. He worked alongside Hill founder and chief executive Andy Hill during their early careers at Willmott Dixon, so the appointment reunites a long-standing professional relationship.
More than 35 years across construction and house building spans several cycles, which is relevant to a growth plan of this ambition. Doubling turnover inside five years requires land, capital and delivery capacity to arrive together, and the constraint is ordinarily delivery capacity rather than appetite.
The live developments across the two regions, at Cambridge, Buckinghamshire, Oxford, Barnet and Windsor, are concentrated in higher value markets around London and the east. That concentration tells the supply chain where the immediate demand sits and what type of product it is being asked to build.