Inspired Villages announce the appointment of Chief Development & Property Officer and Chief Customer Officer roles

Inspired Villages, UK leader in the later living space, has bolstered its leadership team as two of the company’s originators join the C suite. Neal Dale (pictured left) takes on the role of Chief Development and Property Officer and James Cobb (pictured right) will become Chief Customer Officer.

Reporting into the CEO, the roles will be at the forefront of delivering Inspired Villages’ growth ambitions through its pillars of buying sites well, building on time and budget whilst driving an unerring focus on putting the customer first. The moves come as Inspired Villages nears its seventh year with a commitment to expand its portfolio to 34 retirement villages over time, which equates to around 5,100 age-appropriate homes for over 8,000 older people.

Neal Dale, one of the company’s originators, has been with Inspired Villages since the start and played a key role in its success to date. Previously as Development Director. He will now take on the role of Chief Development and Property Officer, with continued responsibility for Inspired Village’s land and planning, design, development and estates functions, as well as additional oversight on areas including Inspired’s ESG and overall sustainability initiatives, recently demonstrated in the appointment of the company’s first Head of Sustainability. Neal has almost 30 years of property development experience and will be an essential part of ensuring world-leading village experiences are created.

James Cobb, another originator of the business, will become the Chief Customer Officer, with a focus on ensuring the company is relentless in its pursuit of excellence and delivering exceptional service to residents. Formerly Sales and Marketing Director, James’ enhanced remit will still cover strategic oversight of the sales and marketing function of the business, but now include ongoing engagement and wider support for residents through Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tactics and customer satisfaction. As Inspired continues to build its reputation as the leading experts in later living, James will ensure key decisions are made with a ‘customer first’ lens. A key leader within the business from the start, James also has extensive knowledge of the entire customer lifecycle, and the retirement living sector as a whole.

Jamie Bunce, CEO of Inspired Villages commented: “We are delighted to announce the evolution of these two key roles at Inspired Villages that are integral as we enter our next phase of growth and continue to scale at pace. The creation of the roles demonstrates both our desire to secure the best sites and deliver excellence across our entire estates portfolio and our unwavering commitment to our customers, who will be at the heart of every decision we make.

“Neal and James are both passionate and committed members of our team, who have played a huge part in our success to date and know our industry inside out. We are confident that they will continue to lead their teams and the support the wider business strategy to deliver communities of happy customers, living the best years of their life.