Green Street News: Ashen Capital has doubled its funding to Merrow Wood Group
Price and Wright’s Ashen Capital doubles down on land promotion business
Published by Green Street News on 21 Aug 2026 | 08:20 | London | by David Hatcher
Firm recruits executive director from Cala
Picture: The Ashen and Merrow teams, from left: Alex Price, John Kennedy, Freddie Webber, Daniel Webber and Steven Wright
- What Ashen Capital has doubled its funding to Merrow Wood Group to £5m
- Why Government policy is expected to make it easier to gain planning for housing, while competition from housebuilders has fallen
- What next Freddie Webber is joining Merrow as executive director
Ashen Capital has doubled its commitment to land promotion business Merrow Wood Group to £5m, Green Street News can reveal.
The UK real estate-focused private equity investor, formed by former Fiera Real Estate UK chief executive Alex Price and former head of corporate investments Steven Wright, has made the move in order to accelerate growth from its current portfolio of seven sites and the 1,000 units it has in the residential planning process.
Merrow was formed by former Cala executives Daniel Webber and John Kennedy in 2021. Freddie Webber has now also joined the firm as executive director, having previously been a managing director at Cala. Kennedy is now a senior adviser to the business.
Ashen owns a one-third stake in Merrow, having first invested in June. It has upped its funding – in part in response to the government’s focus on making the planning process more straightforward for housing, and at a time when many housebuilders are not currently competing for land as they are struggling to shift stock.
In addition to Merrow, Ashen has also invested in residential development lender Sibner Investment Management.
Price said: “We established Ashen Capital specifically to back businesses with the right people and the right market opportunity. Merrow Wood has both. The founders’ backgrounds give them a competitive edge that is very difficult to replicate – they know what the end buyer wants, and they know how to deliver it.”
