how
the arrival of a brightly painted Ford Cortina at Dagenham Green is a link between the area’s past and future
by Jon Massey
Andy Hill is clear. The group chief executive says the family-owned developer he founded is in the business of building communities, “not just homes” but places local people can live, work and engage with, which honour the history of the sites. I have a personal connection myself.
My parents had Ford cars when I was growing up. Escorts, Fiestas (always red), a Focus, a Mondeo and even a Ka – the latter being the car I drove after passing my test. Many, though not all, will have been built at or used parts from the company’s vast plant in Dagenham.
As I drive to The Hill Group’s Dagenham Green scheme, I’m in my late mother’s 2013 red Ford Fiesta – a descendant of the final passenger car to roll off the company’s east London production line. Incidentally, it dates from the same year Ford ended all production in the UK.
But, while the assembly lines fell quiet, the physical and mental connections to a plant that produced nearly 11million vehicles between 1931 and 2002 are still very much alive.
As I park up at Hill’s site, I reflect that on it once stood buildings where hands made parts for vehicles I rode in as a child – an experience shared by millions across the country.
Apt then that joint venture partners The Hill Group and housing association Peabody have chosen to celebrate that legacy by displaying a new automotive artwork beside the marketing suite for the 3,500-home Dagenham Green scheme.
Artist Tim Gresham, known as Penfold, was commissioned to create a visually striking piece
The pressing plant that once stood on this site holds a long and influential place in the local community’s history
Andy Hill, The Hill Group
and – working in partnership with specialist garage Type 2 Detectives – has repainted a 1966 Mk1 Ford Cortina.
One of around 3million built between the 1960s and 1980s at the site, the vehicle was officially unveiled atop a shipping container on January 22 and will remain in place for three months before transferring to Silverstone ahead of the British Grand Prix.
As well as the impact of the company’s products, there are the generations of people who worked in Ford’s factories –including Andy’s dad, who he said was once employed and then fired by the firm.
Connecting the site’s social history to the present at the launch was Tracy Goodman and her family. Her mother, the late Dora Challingsworth, led the 1984 strikes at Ford’s plant as a shop steward, eventually winning female employees recognition as skilled workers and making good on industrial action in the late 1960s that paved the way for the Equal Pay Act in 1970.
Tracy, whose grandson was gifted a miniature replica of Penfold’s artwork at the event, said: “It meant a great deal to attend with my family and share the story of courage and sacrifice shown by the women at Ford’s pressing plant in Dagenham.
“I hope our words resonated
£300,000
Starting price for a one-bedroom apartment at Dagenham Green, on sale now through The Hill Group
Left, an artist’s impression of how the development will look when work is
The MK1 Ford Cortina, freshly painted, has returned home to the site it was produced on in the 1960s
and that Dagenham Green will continues to honour and keep alive the memory of this important moment.”
Andy added: The pressing plant that once stood on this site holds a long and influential place in the local community’s history, with its legacy deeply intertwined with the lives of future generations who will call this neighbourhood home.
“I would particularly like to thank Dora’s family for joining us and Penfold for his extraordinary creativity in reinvigorating the exterior of this old Ford Cortina on the site where it was originally made in the 1960s. We hope the artwork brings joy and inspiration to everyone who passes.”
Penfold is known for working across a variety of media from a studio in his native Bristol. His pieces are often colourful and abstract and his work includes several large scale installations and murals.
Peabody’s deputy executive director of development, Angela Wood, said: “Dagenham Green carries a deep and proud history, shaped by the people who worked here. They stood up for change and built a strong community around the site.
“This artwork is a celebration of that shared story and a reminder that the past still has a place in the neighbourhood we’re creating today.
“Art can stop people in their tracks, spark conversations and help places feel human and lived in. This piece helps connect new and existing residents to the character, identity and spirit of Dagenham as it continues to grow.”
One, two and three-bedroom homes are currently available at Dagenham Green for private sale through The Hill Group with prices starting at £300,000. The scheme is served by nearby Dagenham Dock station.
Shared ownership apartments, ranging in size from one to three bedrooms, are available through Peabody with prices starting at £81,000 for a 30% share of a one-bed based on a full market value of £270,000.
key details
Left, Andy Hill presents Dora’s great grandson with a replica of the newly painted Ford Cortina to mark the event
Penfold’s artwork is currently on show at Dagenham Green near the junction of New Road and Kent Avenue and is free to visit. You can find out more about the development and the homes on offer there on its website.
Go to dagenhamgreen.co.uk
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£2,600
Starting monthly rental price for a studio apartment in Vertus’ 50-60 Charter Street towers
how 50-60 Charter Street delivers best-in-class communal facilities as it welcomes residents to dockside living
by Jon Massey
Launched towards the end of last year, Vertus’ latest build-to-rent apartments in Canary Wharf may best be described as next-level.
The twin towers of 50-60 Charter Street are connected by communal spaces at their base, rising high on Wood Wharf to overlook South Dock and house some 756 apartments ranging in size from 463sq ft to 1,397sq ft.
Perhaps what really sets Grid architects’ structure apart from the rest of the now extensive Vertus portfolio – which includes nearby aparthotel Vertus Edit for shorter stays – however, is the 14,000sq ft of communal space.
Arranged over two lower floors, this includes informal co-working spaces, an evening lounge, a games room with arcade machines, shuffleboard and pool and a snug with one of the largest flatscreen TVs I’ve ever seen, allowing it to double as a screening room.
For fitness there’s a studio space kitted out with Reformer Pilates machines, a chunky free weights room and a large gymnasium with luxury health club-grade cardio and resistance machines.
Workers can also make use of a string of private pods to minimise distractions or book characterful meeting rooms. Then, for relaxation, there are flexible, purpose-built dining rooms for social gatherings or larger parties.
That’s before you even mention the ground floor lobby, which boasts a grand piano, an honesty market and a bold feature staircase to take residents up to the main communal areas.
The person in charge of ensuring all of this operates smoothly is Vertus residential building manager Sam Pickering.
Born to Kiwi parents in the UK, he grew up in New Zealand, moving to Britain in 2015 “for a year”. His career has taken him through hospitality into looking after student accommodation before moving into build-torent and joining Vertus in 2024, initially to manage its 8 Water Street building.
“I remember at my interview saying that one of my goals was to manager a flagship site, although I didn’t expect it to be within a year,” said Sam, who is meticulous in his attention to detail, admitting he can’t
The spaces have been very well thought-out.
Vertus has taken all the best parts from all the other buildings they’ve opened
Sam Pickering, Vertus
resist rearranging coasters in the communal areas by colour when they’ve become disordered.
“We’ve got fantastic spaces –they’ve been very well thought out. Vertus has taken all the best parts from the other buildings they’ve opened. You enter via a very large reception foyer. It’s incredibly grand, with amazing gardens, high ceilings and open spaces. One of the benefits here is that our concierge team, who do a fantastic job, are truly here 24-hours.
“The residents build very strong relationships with them and it’s something that really sets us apart. With the design and facilities of 50-60 Charter Street, a lot of consideration has been put into what people want. The whole building has been designed around that. The dining rooms are flexible, for example – two of them can be separated or combined into one.
“Vertus offers very high-end living and with lots of services. Residents can bring their dry-cleaning down, and we can have that delivered and then brought back, for instance.
“We’re here to provide those experiences – we want the whole building to feel like a home. There are all these reasons to come down from your apartment and enjoy the other spaces, even if it’s just to get a coffee. That’s been very popular – we’re always having to top up the mugs.”
Since the first residents moved into 10 George Street in 2020, not far from its latest building, Vertus has made a point of putting in place the architecture to bring residents together. Its events team, Dor Rugira and Brogan Murray, hosted 197 gatherings in 2025 with an attendance rate of 81% across the Canary Wharf Group subsidiary’s buildings.
Sam said: “There is a real community on the estate. These events operate across the portfolio
which is brilliant because it allows people who are living in such close proximity to meet each other and build friendships. That’s been really lovely for the staff to see.”
Sam’s role is to ensure the areas he looks after run smoothly, allowing the wider team to deliver the service that residents expect.
“On a day-to-day basis, it’s about the safety of the building – making sure the residents are taken care of, making sure all the safety checks for fire and water are done, that the place is safe to live in and that everyone is comfortable and their needs are met,” he said.
“We are very fortunate to have a very diverse team here. We’ve got the buildings managers and the property managers who deal directly with the apartments.
“Any initial concerns will go through them, and if there’s anything wrong, it will come to me. The concierge team do a fantastic job, liaising with the residents to make sure of that.
“The people who live here are an eclectic mix. We have students, lots of couples – many who are young professionals.
“We have groups of friends sharing, which is quite common in our two-beds and three-beds.
“It’s been very popular since launch and that’s because Canary Wharf is a developing area. Even if you’re not working on the estate, you’ve got the Elizabeth Line, the Tube and the DLR so you’re very well positioned to get around London quickly.
“Now we have residents living here, it really feels good to see the spaces being used. Managing it is a really lovely job to have and I’m really excited as we expect the numbers to grow over this year.
“For me, it’s been a tremendous opportunity and Vertus has been spectacular. It’s been such a place to learn and grow and develop, and I’m so grateful for all the opportunities I’ve had.
“Personally, I’m really looking forward to seeing how people take to the facilities we have here and to see them enjoying themselves.”
key details
Homes in the first phase of 50-60 Charter Street are available now, with more properties set for release in July.
Prices start at £2,600 per month for a studio, £3,000 for a one-bed, £4,100 for a two-bed and £5,200 for a three-bed. Properties come fully furnished. Go to thisisvertus.com for details
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LONDON BOROUGH OF TOWER HAMLETS SPECIAL TREATMENT LICENCES
Notice is given that: Carlos Perez Moreno
Has applied to the London Borough of Tower Hamlets for: Tattooing
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Anyone wishing to oppose the application must give notice in writing to the Service Manager Of Regulatory Services (Commercial), Communities Directorate, 4th Floor Tower Hamlets Town Hall 160 Whitechapel Road London E1 1BJ WITHIN THREE WEEKS specifying the grounds of opposition. Persons objecting to the grant of a licence must be prepared to attend in person at a hearing before a Committee of the Council.
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Anyone wishing to oppose the application must give notice in writing to the Service Manager Of Regulatory Services (Commercial), Communities Directorate, 4th Floor Tower Hamlets Town Hall 160 Whitechapel Road London E1 1BJ WITHIN THREE WEEKS specifying the grounds of opposition. Persons objecting to the grant of a licence must be prepared to attend in person at a hearing before a Committee of the Council.
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Anyone wishing to oppose the application must give notice in writing to the Service Manager Of Regulatory Services (Commercial), Communities Directorate, 4th Floor Tower Hamlets Town Hall 160 Whitechapel Road London E1 1BJ WITHIN THREE WEEKS specifying the grounds of opposition. Persons objecting to the grant of a licence must be prepared to attend in person at a hearing before a Committee of the Council.