Andrew McDonough
- Developments delivered
- £11bn+
- Homes delivered
- 100,000+
- Member, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS)
- Member, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (MCIArb)
- Chartered Manager (CMgr)
- Fellow, Chartered Management Institute (FCMI)
- Fellow, Association for Project Management (FAPM)
- Fellow, Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (FCIHT)
- Diploma in Adjudication
Thirty-five years of commercial and operational construction leadership, concentrated entirely in multi-occupancy residential delivery, purpose-built student accommodation, build-to-rent, affordable housing and single-family homes.
Andrew began at Birse Construction in 1991, served as chief quantity surveyor for Ed. Züblin AG on the Lebanese University reconstruction at Hadath from 1996 to 2002, and joined Watkin Jones in February 2002. Over seventeen years there he progressed from managing surveyor to managing director of the student-accommodation business, contributing to the company's transition from regional family contractor to national leader in purpose-built student accommodation.
Watkin Jones admitted to AIM on 23 March 2016, raising £131.3 million at a market capitalisation of £255 million, the largest junior-market initial public offering of the preceding two years. Group revenue grew from £244 million in FY2015 to £375 million in FY2019.
Continuity of every active project, every supplier relationship, every employment contract.
Andrew left Watkin Jones in November 2019 to establish Construction and Commercial Consultants Ltd, and subsequently joined United Living Group as managing director of New Homes. He led the division through Apollo Impact's August 2023 acquisition of the group and the 1 September 2025 rebrand to United Infrastructure. The group reported revenue of £718.1 million for the financial year ended 31 March 2025.
When the group's strategic review concluded that housing fell outside its core focus, Andrew acquired the New Homes business, ensuring continuity of every active project, supplier relationship and employment contract. The BREE Construction management buy-out completed on 2 April 2026.
BREE Construction now operates a group of companies spanning construction, property development and housing delivery, with operating entities founded in 1955 and 1964 and active projects across England, Scotland and Wales. Andrew's direct experience of forward-funded residential development, his demonstrated capacity to deliver at institutional scale and his contractual expertise position the group as a credible delivery partner for housing associations, build-to-rent operators and institutional investors.
Jim Davies
- Developments delivered
- £950m
- Homes delivered
- 8,200
Three decades of pre-construction, development and operational leadership across UK residential, purpose-built student accommodation, build-to-rent and multi-family, at Watkin Jones and Dandara Living.
Jim began at Mowlem and worked through operational and pre-construction roles at Vinci and Allen Build before joining Watkin Jones in August 1999. Over twenty-two years there he progressed through Pre-Construction and Procurement Director for the Student Housing Division to Managing Director of the Newmark Developments Division in December 2010, the group's site-acquisition, planning and disposals arm. He served as a Director of Watkin Jones & Son Limited from October 2005 to February 2021 and across more than thirty-eight project-specific vehicles.
At Watkin Jones's AIM admission on 23 March 2016, Jim was named one of five Executive Committee members in the Admission Document and listed as Key Management. Across his tenure the group grew from approximately £17 million to over £300 million in revenue, and he led delivery of more than 28,000 student beds across 88-plus sites. He also drove the group's expansion into build-to-rent ahead of the sector's mainstream growth.
Student accommodation, build-to-rent, multi-family, the three pillars of his career are the three pillars of BREE Construction.
Jim left Watkin Jones in March 2021 and joined Dandara Living in July 2021 as Chief Executive and Managing Director of the build-to-rent division. Over four and a half years he grew the platform from approximately 2,500 apartments to nearly 8,000 homes and student beds across seventeen sites, executed £500 million of multi-family and single-family asset transactions in the two years to October 2024, and relocated the group's headquarters to Altrincham in 2022.
Schemes delivered or sold during his tenure include Granary Quay in Glasgow (342 units, sold to Europa), Aston Place in Birmingham (324 units), Chapel Wharf in Salford (995 units), Stafford Yard in Bristol (295 units, sold to CompassRock), Renshaw's Yard in Staines (391 units, £110 million forward-funded by Greystar) and City Wharf in Glasgow as a Gamuda Land UK joint venture, certified BREEAM Excellent. Dandara Living took consecutive WhatHouse? Gold Awards for Best Build-to-Rent Developer in 2024 and 2025, and RESI Property Manager of the Year in 2023 and 2025.
Following the spin-out of Dandara Living Management as an independent entity backed by Aviva Investors in September 2025, Jim resigned all directorships in a planned transition on 5 November 2025. He joins BREE Construction in 2026. The fit is direct: BREE Construction operates across student accommodation, build-to-rent and multi-family, the three pillars of his career, and his working relationship with Andrew McDonough goes back to their shared time on the Watkin Jones Executive Committee.
Lauren McDonough
Biography and full role details to follow.
Three principles, plainly stated.
- Principle
Senior on every project
Andrew and Jim sit at brief, contract and delivery, not just at the handover slide. The leadership chart and the delivery team are not separate organisations.
Across every commission - Principle
Continuity through change
Every active project, supplier relationship and employment contract carried through the 2026 management buy-out without interruption, no scheme paused, no team member displaced.
Through every transition - Principle
Specialist by stack
Student accommodation, build-to-rent and multi-family, three pillars this team has run, commercially led and delivered together for over twenty years across the UK.
Across UK residential