Jason Hawthorne appointed BOOM! Chief Commercial Officer
BOOM!, the development marketplace, has boosted its senior team with the appointment of Jason Hawthorne as its first Chief Commercial Officer (CCO).
With over 32 years’ experience within the property industry and a strong background in design, marketing and software development, Jason is well-placed to help the fast-expanding prop-tech platform move into its next phase of growth.
Jason joins BOOM!’s executive leadership team from VU.CITY; a digital city planning platform which he co-founded in
- Under his direction, the interactive tool grew to cover 25 major UK and international cities.
He also brings extensive experience of finding creative solutions to property-related projects, having previously spent 26 years as a Director for property technology consultancy Wagstaffs. While there, he was responsible for finding real-world applications for the latest augmented reality technology to help companies specialising in the built environment, from which VU-CITY was born.
As CCO, Jason will be responsible for helping demonstrate the value that BOOM! offers to everyone, be they institutional landowners, Local Authorities or neighbours recognising they can combine garden space to develop on. BOOM! transforms everyone from seasoned investors to entrepreneurial landowners into development partners, placing control as to the nature of the proposed development in their hands before connecting them to developers. In promoting how the innovative platform helps unlock the potential of underutilised land, Jason will leverage his digital technology experience to spearhead the commercial strategy. Key to this will be securing greater engagement around how BOOM! streamlines the process of bringing a property to market, thereby helping first-time as well as experienced landowners deliver much-needed new homes across the UK.
Speaking about Jason’s appointment, BOOM! co-founder and CEO Simon Skoczek, said: "With over 3,000 developers already signed up to BOOM!, our focus this year is to continue scaling the number of opportunities to help us meet the growing demand for high-quality housing that delivers value not only to the development but the broader community. We’re therefore delighted to be welcoming Jason to the team at such a pivotal moment.
"In particular, we are confident that his experience of transforming a successful property design agency into a world-leading software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform will help us inspire even more landowners to develop with confidence."
Jason Hawthorne added: "At a time when the supply of new homes across the UK is still far from meeting both demand and quality standards, and with so many brownfield and infill sites available there is real potential to truly unlock development and at speed. I’m excited to be joining an ambitious company with so much potential to revolutionise the house-building sector.
"My experience of bringing VU.CITY to market means I understand the value of a user-friendly platform and the role the technology can play in boosting collaboration within the property process. I therefore look forward to working with the BOOM! team to further strengthen their creative vision and help deliver BOOM!s vision of 'helping to solve the housing crisis exceptionally well'."