Author

Craig Bellamy, founder of Madisons

Founder and director of Madisons Commercial Solutions, design and build in Essex

Craig Bellamy founded Madisons in 2009 and has run it ever since. He has 33 years in the industry, much of it spent delivering show homes for the UK’s leading developers. Today he leads a design and build company based in Latchingdon, Essex, working for homeowners and national housebuilders across Essex and London.

His name is on the guides in the Madisons blog. The company story is on our about page.

Craig Bellamy, founder of Madisons Commercial Solutions, laughing on site in navy work clothing

Background and career

The 33 years are Craig’s own time in the industry. Madisons itself was established in 2009, and Craig has been its director since 1 April 2009, as the Companies House record for company 06866779 (opens in a new tab) shows.

In his founder story, Craig describes over 33 years of delivering show units for commercial clients, with the only residential project on The Strand among the most prestigious.

Under Craig, Madisons moved into commercial work in 2015, fitting out homes for national housebuilders, and broadened from interiors into full construction in 2018 and 2019.

What Craig does on a Madisons project

Every Madisons project is overseen by Craig, and he personally oversees the interior finishes on every project. Interiors is the work closest to his heart, and on interiors projects the first consultation is with Craig himself.

Before a design and build project starts, Craig puts the right people around it. Madisons works with two or three architects all the time, each suited to a different kind of project, and with two or three structural engineers.

After handover, Madisons puts right any defects for three months at its own cost and returns at 12 months for a shrinkage visit, once the house has settled.

Qualifications and memberships

SMSTS. Craig holds the Site Management Safety Training Scheme qualification, so every project runs under SMSTS qualified site management.
First aid. Craig and the team are first aid qualified.
SMAS Worksafe. Madisons holds SMAS Worksafe health and safety accreditation, and its SSIP certificate can be checked on the public SSIP Portal.
BNI. Madisons is a member of Business Network International.

Insurance and written guarantees are on accreditations and insurance.

Speaking: Grand Designs Live 2025

On 3 May 2025 Craig took the stage at Grand Designs Live, on the Build and Renovation Theatre at ExCeL London. With architectural designer Andrew Sheeley of RocHaus, one of our architect partners, he co-presented “Dream builds and DIY disasters: what your architect and builder really want you to know”: both sides of a build, from planning permission to completion. See the session listing (archived copy) (opens in a new tab).

Projects Craig has overseen

Each case study below is written from Craig’s own account of the job.

Chigwell: a £3.6m home, designed and built as one project. The owners interviewed seven contractors before choosing Madisons.
Billericay: a ground floor rebuilt around family life. A side and rear extension, built on a design and build contract.
Brentwood: a full upper floor for a repeat client. Craig explains the engineering on site in three short build films.
Cold Norton: a whole house refurbishment, handed over on the day promised. Three new bathrooms, a new staircase and a changed room layout, in around ninety days.
Wickham Bishops: an 1850s house, kept original. A returning client: Madisons assessed the house for them before they bought it.
Witham: an extension that kept all its space. Craig suggested taking a little space from the kitchen for the new shower room, so the extension kept its full size.
Monitor Audio: rooms built to be listened to. A factory show unit with acoustically engineered walls, ceilings and floors.

More work is on our projects page.