Shropshire Site Managers Named As Best In The Country For Quality
Two site managers overseeing the construction of David Wilson Homes developments in Shropshire, Clockmakers and The Damsons, have received prestigious national awards for the exceptional quality of the homes built on their sites.
Kirk Raine (52) and Ashley Bennett (29) have each won a Pride in the Job award from the National House Building Council (NHBC) – an award known as the ‘Oscars’ of the housebuilding industry.
In total, site managers working for David Wilson Homes’ parent company, Barratt Developments, have won 89 Pride in the Job awards this year alone – more than any other housebuilder.
This is the 20th year in a row that Barratt Developments has won the most Pride in the Job awards, having accumulated more than 1,500 individual accolades over the years. This achievement underlines how important building high-quality homes has been to the developer over the last two decades.
Kirk Raine, originally from Stone in Staffordshire, has been working for David Wilson Homes Mercia for a total of 13 years and is such a beloved figure in the company that the Raine Place development in Telford was named after him, to honour his success in previous years.
This is his 13th Pride in the Job Quality Award, and he has also previously won nine Seals of Excellence, six Regional Awards and three Supreme Awards during his career.
Kirk said: “It’s great to work with the customers and the contractors and, working in line with the building programme. The best part is building high-quality homes for our customers and receiving 100% customer satisfaction.
“I would like to thank the team at the Clockmakers for all of the hard work that they have put in, and for helping me to achieve this award.”
Ashley Bennett is from Kingswinford and has worked for Barratt Homes for six and a half years.
This is the first award he has won as a site manager, but he previously worked as an assistant site manager under Kirk. Ashley has taken everything he has learnt from Kirk and also remains determined to be the best of the best.
Ashley said: “I feel amazing and overwhelmed by this massive achievement. My favourite part about working at this development is the teamwork, how everyone enjoys working together to do their job to the best of their ability.
“I’d like to thank the team at The Damsons in Market Drayton, everyone at our head office and the people who support my team on a day-to-day basis who do not get the credit they deserve.”
The awards recognise the very best site managers across the country, with over 8,000 being entered into the awards annually. Each is judged on a strict criterion including technical expertise, health and safety, leadership and attention to detail.
The competition is at the heart of raising standards in housebuilding, with the awards showcasing the role site managers play in ensuring much-needed new homes are delivered on time, on safe sites, and to the highest quality standards.
With site managers passing on their skills and industry knowledge to their teams and mentoring assistant site managers, the awards help to drive up quality standards across the industry.
Helen Lewis, Managing Director at Barratt and David Wilson Homes Mercia, said: “We’re so proud of Kirk and Ashley for achieving a prestigious Pride in the Job Quality award. It’s amazing news for the teams at their developments and our customers.
“To have won more awards than any other housebuilder for 20 years in a row is an incredible achievement and underlines our commitment to building the very best new homes for our customers.”
Earlier this year David Wilson Homes also achieved a five-star rating from its customers in the HBF Customer Satisfaction Survey, which recognises both build quality and excellence in customer care. This is the 15th year in a row that the developer’s customers have rated it as a five-star housebuilder, with more than 90% of its customers saying they would recommend it to a friend.
To find out more about any nearby developments in the county, visit the website at David Wilson Homes in Shropshire.
