Graham Chapman - Operations Director

My wife and I stumbled into Poundbury by accident (perhaps it wasn’t an accident)! About three years ago we were on the road from a disappointing house hunting trip to Lyme Regis, returning to our Airbnb in Chichester, when we decided to pull off the main road for refreshment in Dorchester, but we found ourselves driving through this attractive estate of new, but traditionally built houses that I never knew existed!

We had been in North America (mainly Canada) for the last thirty years and when I lived in Bath and visited Dorchester before, this place didn’t exist! We decided to try and find a property and were lucky to find one being built, which we purchased.

We like Poundbury because the pleasant housing is mixed with affordable and normal private housing, but not distinguished in appearance. It does not look like a typical new estate with random houses, but, thanks to the Duchy, it has some conformity. It is also in the most beautiful county in Britain.

I joined “Love Poundbury” because I wanted to participate in the maintenance of the values that Poundbury represents and was invited to become Operations Director to keep an eye on the various activities (including expenditure).My career has been divided. After obtaining my PhD in Chemistry the first half was in the food industry (I was involved in the development of Twix!).

The second half was in the biodegradable plastics industry where I became and still am a global expert. Although theoretically retired, I am regularly consulted in this field.