Natta Chairman, John J Whelan, turns 80!

A very Happy Birthday to our Natta Chairman, John J Whelan, who turns 80 today!

Born in Listowel, Ireland, the youngest son of a farmer, John upped sticks at 18 and followed his sister over to England.

After trying his hand at a few trades, he moved to Fleet in Hampshire and started his own construction company, J J Whelan Esq in the late 60s. He then formed Natta Building Company in 1972. From these humble beginnings, he learnt the business from the ground up; starting as a pipe-layer and groundworker before trading in a shovel for a JCB. Natta quickly grew and achieved a reputation for being able to tackle complex groundworks.

Ten years later, John shifted his focus to property development and created Natta Country Homes Ltd and then formed Natta Plant. Established in 1988, Natta Plant is one of the largest privately-owned plant fleets in the South of England.

Today, he is the Chairman of the Natta Group and remains the day to day Managing Director of Natta Homes. He is still actively involved in the running of the business and liaises weekly with the management team who run the operations for the rest of the Group.

A keen golfer, in his spare time, he keeps active playing as often as he can. As a racehorse owner and animal lover, he is at his happiest watching horse racing, putting on a bob or two at the bookies or being on the racecourse. He also enjoys spending time with his horses, dogs, goats and chickens on his farm.

Next year, Natta Building Company will reach its 50^th year of continuous trading with the same commendable reputation. Now with John’s son John E Whelan at the helm, the company continues to adopt the same ‘hands-on’ principles which John Snr. imprinted into the business and which were key to its early success.

“Dad, your energy and tenacity has never wavered. Your drive and work ethic has always been the standard that John and I have aspired and worked to. You are admired by us all. Happy 80^th Birthday!” Jo Whelan