The architect-developer who provided the inspiration for Retreat East, the private members club and spa which opened near Ipswich earlier this year, is to be guest speaker at the next Ipswich Suffolk Business Club event.

Dominic Richards, founder and chief executive of Architekton, will talk about his entrepreneurial journey from retail to the development of community-centred new settlements, including the creation of the innovative, socially sustainable second home ownership model behind Retreat East, at Hemingstone.

The lunch event, on September 15 at Milsoms Kesgrave Hall, is being sponsored by Lexus Ipswich, with corporate supporters including Milsoms at Kesgrave Hall, Genesis PR and Greene King.

Lexus Ipswich general manager James Rogers and colleagues will be bringing the new Lexus LC 500 for guests to look at and test drive before the lunch and there will also be opportunities to test drive other top of the range Lexus cars on the day.

Membership of the club is made up of Suffolk business owners, leaders and key decision makers who share the goal of promoting business growth, inward investment and employment.

Architekton is currently regenerating urban sites in east London and Norwich as well as new settlements for 10,000 people in the south of England.

The east London development involves the regeneration of one of the last remaining untouched streets in Spitalfields. It will include an outlet championing seasonal produce through a Farm Shop Deli and Cafe, bringing East Anglian seasonal produce to the urban heart of the city.

The development in Norwich includes a tech quarter, warehouse hotel, new homes and an enterprise incubator hub linked to a sister hub in Spitalfields.