The Star: January 20, 2022

The Star Thursday January 20 2022
6
NEWS
• By Anne Gibson
A 28-YEAR-OLD Rolls Royce
Wraith-driving, private jet-flying,
$4m 87-foot launch owning,
inner-city Christchurch housing
developer says his company is
New Zealand’s busiest privately
owned residential builder.
Matthew Horncastle is coowner
of Williams Corporation
with Blair Chappell. The company
was named by BCI Central’s
latest report as second only to the
franchised national house builder
G.J. Gardner.
Williams is now the secondlargest
house builder by annual
number of homes completed but
Horncastle says it’s the biggest
privately owned house builder in
New Zealand.
Horncastle and Chappell, both
28, used their middle names to
name the company.
They have an Insta-splashed
lifestyle synonymous with wealthy
young developers, flush with an
annual $520m turnover: a new
boat, WW (guess why it’s called
that?) bought from the United
States and moored in Auckland’s
Viaduct Harbour, and luxury
resort stays, most recently at Peter
Cooper’s Mountain Landing in the
Bay of Islands.
They charter a white-leatherseat
Bombardier Challenger
604 jet from Christchurch’s
GCH Aviation for a fortnightly
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
The meteoric rise of Williams Corporation:
return Christchurch-Wellington-
Auckland staff trip: “We bulk buy
100 hours at a time. I’ve always
wanted to fly in a private jet,”
Horncastle confesses.
Last week, the company’s
head project manager based in
Christchurch flew to Auckland
to meet project managers in
this city. That is an example,
Horncastle says, of the usefulness
of the twice-monthly scheduled
flights, to keep staff connected,
enhance links, share expertise
and work together.
As managing director, Horncastle
is the son of Bill Horncastle
whose eponymous business,
Horncastle Homes, was prominent
and busy in the Garden City
for years until it was shut in 2017
when Bill retired.
“I like to say we’re the Hilux,”
Horncastle says in a reference
to what he says is the straightforward,
dependable, reliable,
non-flashy style and quality of
Williams’ homes.
So how did the company get
to be New Zealand’s busiest privately
owned housing developer?
Matthew and Blair met in 2003
LUXURY LIFESTYLE: Williams
Corporation co-owners Blair
Chappell (left) and Matthew
Horncastle charter a private
jet fortnightly and own WW,
a 87ft cruiser bought for
US$2m.
when their families were holidaying
in the Marlborough Sounds
with Geoff Ball, who now supplies
all Williams’ windows.
Horncastle went to Nelson
College, and worked for Bill at
Horncastle Builders from 2011
till 2013. He did a building
apprenticeship: “The duo were
friends growing up. However,
they only started a business
together because of an efficient
connection and mindset that created
high business productivity,”
the company says.
Chappell studied at what is
now Ara Institute of Canterbury
and has a bachelor’s degree in
information and communications
technology. He worked part-time
at McDonald’s to support himself.
The pair established businesses
in contract building, temporary
fencing, waste management, solar
panels and composite decking,
and Horncastle says his father’s
only help was to guarantee a
$20,000 credit card – but does
acknowledge how important the
connections from his father are.
The pair made $11,000 profit
on their first development but a
$60,000 loss on a Rolleston project.
In 2016, Matthew’s mother
Kathryn joined the business,
bringing “a significant amount of
property development experience
with her”, Williams says.
That year, Williams built and
sold 12 homes, but by 2020 it had
become the eighth biggest house
builder, building 279 homes annually
worth $31m.
In 2018, when they were both
aged 24, the company built just
40 homes in the inner Christchurch
city and surrounding suburbs
and sold 80, with an overall
sales value of about $35m.
But last year, it was second
only to the powerhouse of the
sector and built 761 homes in the
year to October 2021 for $107m,
selling houses for what might
seem like an unbelievably low
average $141,164.
SAT
22 ND
JAN
10am–2pm
• Weekend deals across the range
• American hotdogs & drinks
• Random cash prizes
• Guess the cash in the car & win
• Spin to win wheel
• MoreFM on site