Text size A A A print Friday 14th August HOME WHY CHOOSE COGNATUM ABOUT US COGNATUM The English Courtyard Association The Beechcroft Trust PEOPLE NEWS EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES Estate Locations FINANCIAL STATEMENT PROPERTIES FOR SALE CONTACT US Latest News Rolling Garden Renewal As Garden Adviser to all Cognatum estates, Charles Gilchrist aims to increase the gardening knowledge and... Read the article in full » Marlborough Brandt The Marlborough Brandt Group, MBG, was set up in 1981 by a group of people living in Marlborough... Read the article in full » Autumn Annual Meetings Whilst the focus of these meetings was on budgets, along with local issues, there was discussion on a number of common themes... Read the article in full » Alan Clark Alan retired at Christmas after an association of over 30 years... Read the article in full » Residents Advisory Panel Two new members joined the panel in 2015... Read the article in full » Focus on Minchinhampton Owners at Stuart Court in Minchinhampton turned out in strength at Stroud District Council to back plans to add seven homes to the estate. Read the article in full » John Lavin appointed MD In May Charles Clayton stepped down after 24 years. The new managing director John Lavin... Read the article in full » Jeff Matthews Jeff has joined as the new operations manager... Read the article in full » Resident director Cognatum Estates appointed Jeffrey Gaines as... Read the article in full » New development in Alton Beechcroft Developments has just built 12 new energy efficient... Read the article in full » Good service, striving to do even better! Thank you again to everyone who completed the customer satisfaction survey last December. We have now completed the analysis... Read the article in full » MD to retire in May Charles Clayton, Cognatum Managing Director, has decided the time has come to retire after 24 years with English Courtyard... Read the article in full » Changing Appearances The Heritage Panel met for the second time in November and discussed providing advice on conservation and energy saving through a series of advisory articles... Read the article in full » ARMA This year Cognatum Estates is moving its allegiance from the Association of Retirement Housing Managers... Read the article in full » Customer Survey Surveys during the busy Christmas period are not universally popular... Read the article in full » Cognatum Estates Just before Christmas we moved head office... Read the article in full » Jim Harris After serving for three years as a non-executive director, Jim Harris... Read the article in full » First World War Commemoration Thanks to the many events arranged to support the Royal British Legion’s... Read the article in full » Poppies at Mytchett Heath The centenary of the start of the First World War and the British Legion’s initiative ‘to cover the country in poppies’... Read the article in full » Cogantum news in brief A round-up of news from Cognatum... Read the article in full » Creating a wildlife haven At Mill Place, Cirencester, the grassy area between the houses and millstream has been transformed into a wildflower meadow... Read the article in full » Heritage Panel meets for first time The first meeting of the new Heritage Panel took place in June... Read the article in full » OFT Launches Review Earlier this year, the Office of Fair Trading launched a review of residential management services... Read the article in full » Sales – Who Benefits? Even the best national estate agents are acknowledged to offer poor service for people buying or selling retirement homes... Read the article in full » Annual meetings and summer forums The annual budget meetings will be held between 24 September and 29 October... Read the article in full » New board member Our new resident director, Nicola Ratcliffe Wilson, joined the Cognatum board in June... Read the article in full » 25th Anniversary for Malthouse Court Malthouse Court in Towcester celebrated its 25th Anniversary... Read the article in full » New members for RAP There were changes to the Residents Advisory Panel in September when half of the members retired after serving their three-year term. Read the article in full » Concern for gardens after prolonged winter rains Some handsome mature trees were lost from our estates during the winter storms. Others became unsafe and had to be removed. Read the article in full » Board changes in 2013 Noel Shuttleworth, whilst remaining Life President, has retired from the Cognatum board because of ill health. Read the article in full » Heritage Panel All Cognatum developments have been carefully designed to create beautiful homes in lovely locations and grounds. Conservation areas were often chosen and top architects were selected to ensure the architecture fits seamlessly into the local styles. Read the article in full » Recruiting Estate Managers Securing the right people as estate managers is key to the service we offer. Our managers have to be confident and caring, first-aiders, computer literate with management experience and preferably knowledgeable about gardening and building care. Read the article in full » Rules of retirement – Daily Mail Cognatum's award winning Allcourt development in Lechlade-on-Thames has featured in the Daily mail as part of their ten point 'Rules of retirement' guide. You can read the full article here. Read the article in full » Cognatum featured in the Daily Express The Daily Express published an article about Cognatum on 28 January 2014. Henry Thornton, Chairman, talks about the future of retirement housing. You can read the full article here. Read the article in full » Partnership Schemes Across the country there is a real shortage of high quality properties suitable for downsizers. Read the article in full » Customer Survey Update In our winter edition we gave an overview of the findings of our survey and promised further information once it had been fully analysed. Read the article in full » Barton Farm Water Meadows Volunteers, including residents, are helping John Staley to restore an extraordinary irrigation system in the grounds of Barton Farm, used by farmers in the 16th century. Read the article in full » Garden Project at East Ilsley After 10 years, even in the best gardens it is time to review the state of the shrubs and to rationalise what is there. Read the article in full » Residents Advisory Panel At its meeting in March, the panel considered the results of the customer satisfaction survey. Read the article in full » Annual meetings 2013 These will be held between 30 September and the fi rst week in November. Read the article in full » Threat to our Ash trees Colin Quinney, Cognatum’s deputy landscape manager, has just completed a diploma in arboriculture at Merrist Wood College and is now qualified to carry out tree condition surveys on our developments. Read the article in full » A new face Stephen Dale joined Cognatum in September as a regional manager responsible for fifteen of our developments from Wiltshire to Devon. Read the article in full » Never Too Late! Two owners at Berrow Court, Mary and James Westwood celebrated their marriage in October. Read the article in full » Successful Survey Points The Way Forward Thanks to a high response to our confidential survey, we know that at least 86% of our owners are happy with their decision to move to one of our developments – with 55% saying they are very pleased. Read the article in full » Two new books Noel Shuttleworth and Alan Staddon have both brought out self-published books. Read the article in full » 2012 annual meetings The first meetings will be held on 26th September; details of the 2013 service charges and reserve fund budgets will be sent out beforehand. Read the article in full » Residents Advisory Panel Two new members have joined the panel, which meets twice a year in March and September. Read the article in full » Stylish new houses in Odiham A show house is now ready for visitors at Seymour Place. Read the article in full » Change of landscape In July one of our two landscape managers, Alan Prockter, retired. Read the article in full » Guernsey celebration A special event took place in Guernsey in June to celebrate 25 years of Les Blancs Bois, the premier retirement development in the Channel Islands, which is managed by Cognatum. Read the article in full » A survey of your views A year ago we printed an article by Professor Michael Ball on owner-occupied retirement housing. Read the article in full » Diamond Jubilee Wet weather did not dampen the spirits over this historic June weekend and there were reports of many garden parties and other celebrations. Read the article in full » A jazzy way to settle in A garden party and a jazz band celebrated the completion of the nine new apartments and houses next to Lyefield Court at Emmer Green. Read the article in full » Head for heights Sue Pickering always wanted to abseil but only got started in 1997 when she was 68. Read the article in full » Board changes 2011 saw a number of changes to the Cognatum board. Read the article in full » Residents Advisory Panel Read the article in full » New development New development at Seymour Place, Odiham. Read the article in full » The Cinnamon Trust award Read the article in full » Download the latest Newsletter » Previous editions » Quick links to retirement properties for sale: Luxury Retirement Houses in Surrey Retirement Homes for Sale in Berkshire Retirement Houses and Apartments in Wiltshire Retirement living in Gloucestershire Exclusive Retirement Properties in Oxfordshire Retirement Developments in Hampshire Retire and Downsize to Dorset More locations... More about Cognatum: Who are Cognatum? News The English Courtyard Association Employment opportunities The Beechcroft Trust Contact us What makes Cognatum developments special? Terms and Conditions Privacy Google+ Site Map