For the third consecutive year, Gary French has been awarded a prestigious NHBC (National House Building Council) Pride in Job Quality Award 2023, for building homes of exceptional quality at Bovis Homes’ Blackmore Meadows development in Stalbridge.
Pride in the Job recognises the top site managers in the country. Running for 43 years, the accolade – awarded by the UK’s leading new homes warranty and insurance provider – is the most highly regarded in the house-building industry and a benchmark for outstanding site managers.
Judging for the awards is rigorous and began in July last year. Each site manager is assessed across six key areas of site management: consistency, attention to detail, leadership, interpretation of drawings and specifications, technical expertise and health and safety.
With over 23 years’ housebuilding experience and an NHBC NVQ level six in construction site management, Gary French has been hailed as one of the very best site managers in the UK again and even went on to win the sought-after Regional Award in 2022.
Gary, 43, lives in Yeovil with his wife, daughter and two sons. He began his career as a forklift driver before moving into site management and was previously a build manager but missed running his own site.
Gary commented: “I am so proud to have won for the third year in a row. Delivering high quality homes for our customers is a real passion of mine but you can’t build a development of 120 homes by yourself; it’s certainly been a team effort and I can’t thank everyone enough for their support.
“Keeping a consistent team has been essential as everyone knows what’s expected of them and standards remain constant. The site has to be organised and tidy at all times, which makes everyone’s life much simpler and it’s also easier to maintain.”
Regional build director, Gareth Neale, commented: “Gary is an outstanding senior site manager and it’s testament to his leadership skills that the team works so well together – we are incredibly proud of them all as competition is fierce. To win a Quality Award is fantastic, but to win for three consecutive years, as well as two Seal of Excellence Awards and the Regional Award last year is astonishing.
“Gary is a great colleague who’s generous with his time. He also mentored a trainee who went on to win an award in his first year as a site manager, which speaks volumes.”
Commenting on the awards, Steve Wood, CEO at NHBC said: “Congratulations to all the winners who should feel proud to have received a Pride in the Job Award. Pride in the Job is firmly at the heart of NHBC’s mission to raise standards in the housing industry. It is important we recognise the vital role site managers play in ensuring new homes are delivered on time, on safe sites and to exacting construction quality standards. This accolade recognises the best site managers across the UK and celebrates how much Gary has inspired his team by going the extra mile to deliver homes of the highest quality.”
The Quality Award winners will now go on to compete for Seal of Excellence and Regional Awards in the autumn, with the national Supreme Award winners unveiled in January 2024.
Gary works for Vistry’s South West region, which builds Bovis and Linden properties. Three of Gary’s colleagues also won a coveted award: Tom Jupp at Monument View in Wellington, Ollie Smart at Bay View in Northam and Marcus Ford at Tithe Barn in Exeter.
Gary is delivering Blackmore Meadows, a beautiful collection of three and four bedroom properties on the edge of Stalbridge. The homes have been sensitively designed to complement the surrounding area, showcasing two thatched properties and local stone.
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