1. Home
  2. About Us
  3. Our Team

Our Team

Our Story

After a number of years working in & around the real estate sector, our founding team identified & set up Homegrown to address a fundamental imbalance in the residential development market. That is;

1) We need to build more homes in the UK.
2) SME developers want to build more homes but don’t have enough equity to fund the developments.
3) Investors are looking for ways to invest their money to access better returns.

"Small housebuilders want to build more homes but they don’t have the equity to fill the gap" (Anthony Codling, Jefferies Managing Director).

Homegrown aims to match everyday investors with SME developers with the intended benefits being:

  • Access to large-scale development projects, with leading developers in areas with high demand for housing.
  • Attractive target returns.
  • £500 starting investment.
  • Co-investment alongside professional investors.
  • Robust & independent review process.
  • FCA regulated.

The platform also aims to provide developers with a simple and reliable way to raise equity finance that will enable them to build homes & make a positive impact on the availability & affordability of housing in the UK.

Anthony Rushworth

Founder and CEO

Prior to founding Homegrown Anthony worked as an Associate Director at PwC. Having joined the firm in 2008 Anthony qualified as a Chartered Accountant before moving into PwC’s Advisory team and subsequently into Mergers & Acquisitions in the Corporate Finance team. He advised a range of clients from start-ups to FTSE100 listed corporates and specialised in advising clients in the Real Estate sector.

Prior to this, Anthony worked as a Manager at Foxtons where he gained a vast amount of experience of the residential property market and enjoyed his first taste of running a business when he opened and managed a new Foxtons office in South London. Anthony has also successfully been investing privately in property for the last 10 years. Anthony’s experience in professional services, financial expertise and passion for property were the platform that led to the creation of Homegrown.

Ben Washington

Founder and COO

Before founding Homegrown Ben enjoyed a successful career working with a number of top tier investment banks.

Ben started his career at UBS working in both client facing and risk management roles, before establishing a financial services consultancy which specialised in business and regulatory transformation projects with contracts at Barclays and HSBC. As a direct result of the well-publicised regulatory changes in the banking sector in recent years, Ben’s primary focus has been implementing the business response to these changes. Ben has since spoken at a number of market forums on specific regulatory requirements.

Ben’s background and credentials in the banking sector have provided him with the perfect platform to establish and manage Homegrown in the alternative finance sector in the UK.

Haja Jahabardeen

Founder and CTO

Haja is a globally recognised digital pioneer who successfully co-founded an online food ordering platform in 1999, which was valued at over $50m. During his career Haja has led digital transformation projects at Toyota, Disney and the Singapore Government. He has also led digital teams in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and UK.

Prior to Homegrown Haja was Group Digital Director at Saint-Gobain Building Distribution UK and Jewson. Haja holds a MBA from the Cranfield School of Management.

Aaron Mahadevan

CMO

Aaron is a marketing & strategy consultant focused primarily on start-ups. Prior to this, he spent several years leading marketing for some of the world’s largest brands in a variety of sectors for blue-chip companies including: BT, Vodafone, PepsiCo & Coca-Cola. His career has taken him across the globe from Australia, the Middle East, Eastern/Western Europe & back to the UK.

Aaron has been an active property investor since 2001 & joins HomeGrown to combine his passion for both marketing & property. He holds an MBA from IMD International business school in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Your capital is at risk if you invest in property. This includes illiquidity (the inability to sell assets quickly or without substantial loss in value), and the loss of invested capital if the wider property market or an individual property suffers a reduction in value. Investments on Homegrown are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Past performance and forecasts are not indicative of future performance. For more information see our full risk warning. Homegrown Group Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 694952). Investments through Homegrown are equity investments.
Future performance is not guaranteed and is based on projections only. Your capital is at risk if you invest in property. For more information see our full risk warning.