Born in Clayton, Manchester, Walter was the eldest of four brothers and played a keen role in the local community. As a youth, his work would start early in the morning, delivering newspapers hot off the press throughout east Manchester. In his adolescence, it was commonplace to find Walter, at 5am no less, at Smithfield Market full of entrepreneurial spirit, seeking out the freshest produce to stock the shelves of his mother's greengrocery and fishmongers before rushing off to attend school.

During the early 1970s, Walter foresaw the decline of the high street. Witnessing supermarkets for the very first time, with in-house butchers, grocers and chemists, left him feeling precarious over the implications of the sustainability of the small high street shops in general and his own greengrocery/fishmongers in particular and acted as the catalyst for his move into home building. He created J. A. Barton Ltd with lifelong friend Jimmy Barton in 1972 before the pair amicably went their separate ways, paving the way for Walter's new home building company.

Walter founded Loxley Homes in 1974 and, together with sons Peter and Stephen who joined in 1984 and 1985 respectively, successfully established our reputation as a developer committed to building unique dwellings in fantastic locations. Our mission remains unchanged today, with directors Peter and Stephen Dobie taking over the mantle from Walter and innovatively responding to modern day challenges of home building.

Loxley Homes celebrates its 50th year in business and in this time, we have gathered a wealth of expertise that sets us apart from others in the industry. We have designed and built approaching 1000 homes since our doors opened and our building acumen is predicated on decades of the relentless pursuit of excellence. Through our endeavours, we have become a widely known and reputable developer, with excellent relationships with local authorities and residents alike, always sensitive to the needs of our environment, communities and clients.

Since Loxley Homes' inception, our company has grown to include residential regeneration, retail shops, cutting edge office spaces, industrial units and urban regeneration projects alongside its bespoke residential homes' schemes. As a solutions-focused developer, Loxley Homes has stayed abreast of developments and challenges in the industry and uses modern, eco-friendly processes and materials to cement their place as a leading residential and commercial developer.

We continually look for ways to improve and refine what we do and look positively to the future, confident in our ability to add to our proud family building heritage.