Unable to find an attractive acquisition target in the London housebuilding market, Graphite decided to establish and fund a start-up business instead.

The recession presented an opportunity to invest in the UK housebuilding market at a cyclical low of land prices and unit sales. During 2008 and 2009, we spent significant time and resource assessing a number of potential acquisition targets. We concluded that most of them were unattractive, as they were significantly under-capitalised and holding large land banks acquired at high prices before the recession.

This led us to consider launching a new operation, unburdened by legacy investments and freshly capitalised. We identified a strong CEO with an excellent track record in the London housebuilding market and, following a period of business planning, established London Square as a start-up, with a view to building a niche housebuilder within the Greater London area.