History of Churchill Living

Churchill Living is a British company. Independently owned by the McCarthy family, family values are embedded throughout the business, meaning passion, pride and quality underpins everything we do.

Founded in 1994 by brothers Spencer and Clinton McCarthy, the company originally started out building stone and thatched cottages in and around Hampshire, Dorset and Wiltshire under the name of Emlor Homes. We began with our office based in Clinton McCarthy, Managing Director and co-founder's garage in the New Forest. But by 1998, the company had grown so much that WhatHouse? Magazine voted us 'Housebuilder of the Year'.

Purpose Built Retirement Properties

In 2000, we decided to change direction by focusing exclusively on developing purpose-built retirement homes. After the fantastic success of our first retirement development, Avon Lodge in Southbourne, we decided to sell all our existing open market sites and concentrate solely on Churchill Retirement Living locations.

Since the company was founded, Churchill Retirement Living has established itself as the UK’s most trusted provider of specialist housing and associated services especially tailored for the over 60s with Churchill retirement properties. 

In 2003 we renamed ourselves Churchill Retirement Living, and since then the company has continued to go from strength to strength, winning the WhatHouse? 'Housebuilder of the Year' award once again in 2016 and becoming the first ever retirement specialist to do so. 

Rebrand to Churchill Living

With a new rebrand in 2024 to Churchill Living, after extensive research of our target market, the decision to drop ‘retirement’ from our name reflects the different ambitions, expectations and associations that people have with getting older today. 

The lifestyle Churchill offers is defined by friendship, choice, security, independence and peace of mind, and this is how we create ‘living value’ for our customers and families. Emphasising this with our new logo underpinning the words: ‘Your Lifestyle. Your Choice’. The new logo is seen as a reassuring representation of the trust, integrity, safety and security that Churchill stands for.

 30 Years of Churchill

In 2024 we also celebrated our 30th anniversary as a business, and the 21st birthday of the Churchill brand. This name change marks another major step forward in our journey. With our fresh new brand identity, we will remain as focused as ever on building, managing and maintaining high-quality later living communities at an attainable price, with among the lowest running costs in the sector. 

Why choose Churchill Living for your retirement home?

Churchill retirement homes are a lifestyle people often buy into positively seeking friendship and a low-maintenance lifestyle, or it can be the customer can no longer maintain a property. Our developments perfectly suit the needs of the lifestyle Customers live in our communities of like-minded people, offering safety and security. 

The Churchill Living Group now manages over 250 retirement developments across the UK. Offering a range of services including estate management, lifestyle support, and resale services. The company is built on integrity and trust, and we are proud to say we have a quality product with a strong, established and trusted relationship with our customers that is supported by our experience and knowledge.

In 2000 we decided to change the direction of the Company to focus exclusively on the development of purpose-built retirement developments. After the fantastic success of our first retirement development, Avon Lodge in Southbourne, we decided to sell all of our existing open market sites and concentrate solely on the retirement market.

In 2003 we renamed ourselves Churchill Retirement Living, and since then the company has continued to go from strength to strength, winning the WhatHouse? 'Housebuilder of the Year' award once again in 2016 and becoming the first ever retirement specialist to do so. 

Churchill Retirement Living now manages over 200 retirement developments across the UK. The company is built on integrity and trust and we are proud to say we have a quality product with a strong, established and trusted relationship with our Customers that is supported by our experience and knowledge.