People: Northstone; Ball & Berry; Think Design Manchester; Redrow; Anwyl Homes
Homebuilder Northstone, part of Peel L&P, has welcomed two new people to its growing sales and customer experience team.
Daniel Hewins joins as customer experience manager and has worked in customer services for the past 16 years across the construction, hospitality and aviation sectors.
His previous roles include working for housebuilders Redrow and Taylor Wimpey and for British Airways where he trained cabin crew.
Daniel will work across Northstone’s developments starting with its first site in Bolton, called Silkash, where residents have now started to move in.
He will help to develop a customer experience that suits the modern-day homebuyer and will manage customer feedback to help drive continuous improvement.
Glenn Siddall
Glenn Siddall takes up post as Northstone’s sales executive for the homebuilder’s Keld development in Barrowford, Pendle, which is now on site ready for the first phase of 239 homes to be launched by the autumn.
Glenn has 20 years’ experience in the property sector and has worked on many residential schemes in the North West, including Islington Wharf, Cypress Place and Potato Wharf in Manchester.
Northstone’s homes suit first time buyers, families and downsizers and feature flexible living options for residents to switch downstairs layouts.
Craig Nutter, Northstone’s operations director, said: “As our first residents move into our Silkash development in Bolton and work at Keld in Barrowford progresses, it’s great to have Daniel and Glenn on board to support homebuyers and our new communities.
“We’re confident that Daniel and Glenn’s many years of experience will help to make purchasing a home as special as an experience as it should be and we welcome them to the team.”
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Approved inspector Ball & Berry has enhanced its offering with the appointment of four new team members, several internal promotions, and an office refurbishment.
Owen Wall joins the company as a senior building control surveyor working from the Preston and Manchester offices, while Yaseen Mohammed has been appointed as a building control surveyor in the Manchester office.
Elsewhere, Jenny Hodgson and Jen Jones have been recruited to the company’s administrative support team, working as senior administrator and accounts administrator, respectively.
The new additions to the team have been made to ensure Ball & Berry can continue to meet demand for its services, which have surged during the national lockdowns as construction was given the go ahead to remain operational.
Meanwhile, a series of internal promotions have also been made for the members of Ball & Berry’s existing team who have demonstrated their ability to adapt and continue delivering the outstanding levels of service expected from the firm during the national restrictions.
James Oliver, currently building control surveyor and about to complete his CABE qualification, will become a senior building control surveyor, while Mo Hussain, currently a trainee building control surveyor, will be promoted to the role of assistant building control surveyor. Mo will also adopt a role as project manager alongside Charlie Huteson, with both having demonstrated sufficient competence in domestic plan checking and site inspections over the past 12 months.
Paul McNeill
Meanwhile, Abbie Holt, currently studying for her NVQ Level 4 in Building Control, will be promoted to trainee building control surveyor while Michael Ingram, currently undertaking his NVQ Level 3 in Building Control, will become a technical administrator.
Ahead of the national lockdown restrictions easing in line with the Government’s roadmap, Ball & Berry has also undertaken a refurbishment of its Preston offices to offer its team the chance to safely return to the workplace.
Paul McNeill, director at Ball & Berry, said: “These have been difficult and restricting times, but as developers have capitalised on the opportunity to mobilise their projects while the rest of the world stood still, our team has been in real demand.
“We feel lucky to say that, despite the social and economic challenges we all face, our business has grown and that gives us to opportunity to welcome an expanse of new talent to our ranks.”
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A North Manchester-based design agency has bolstered its team to eight employees just in time to celebrate its fourth year in business.
Dan Strayer has joined Think Design Manchester, based on Bury New Road in Whitefield, as its SEO and digital marketing manager.
With more than 13 years of experience in social media, marketing and SEO, Dan will be heading up the SEO element of the business to help existing and new clients make the most of their websites.
He will also be ensuring client websites meet the new Core Web Vitals report requirements, which Google is launching in May 2021. This reporting will show how webpages are performing, based on real world usage data.
Dan’s appointment coincided with Think Digital celebrating its fourth year in business and its relocation to Whitefield from its former base in Radcliffe.
Paul Grogan, Think Digital MD, said: “Offering an SEO-focused service isn’t new for us, but Dan’s role is specific to improving the level of detail we needed to meet SEO requirements for our clients, and has been designed to launch our new digital content marketing service, which ties directly into SEO.
Paul Grogan, left, Dan Strayer
“Whereas the two services are fundamentally separate, one cannot function without the other and we sensed an opportunity to bring the two together for the benefit of our clients. Dan’s SEO skillset brings the technical and strategic element of Think Design up to where it needed to be, allowing us to service our clients to the best of our ability.”
Dan said: “Ultimately, I sensed a great opportunity to combine what I had done previously in SEO with what Paul and Krissy both sought to provide for their clients.
“That includes a forward thinking approach that adheres to mobile-first design, which is so key in the arenas of SEO and digital marketing. Other places talk about these things, but Think Design wanted to actually do it.”
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Gareth Williams has joined housebuilder Redrow’s North West division, based in Daresbury, Cheshire, to lead the technical department within the business as technical director.
He will oversee each new development from conception to completion, including advising the land department on the technical viability of each new site, designing development layouts, taking schemes through the planning process and producing working drawings. He’ll also be responsible for making sure sites are finished to the best standard possible, ensuring public open spaces, landscaping and roads are completed, too.
Managing the technical team, his overall emphasis will be on ensuring the planning and engineering of each development is delivered in an efficient, cost effective and timely manner.
Joining Redrow from Wainhomes, where he spent the past 15 years – seven as technical director – Gareth, 52, from Bolton, said: “I wouldn’t have left my previous role for anything other than a job with Redrow. It’s a privilege to work for such a prestigious company, especially after being in the industry for as long as I have and seeing the standard of new homes Redrow delivers.”
Gareth Williams
Having started his career with Bolton Council, Gareth entered the housebuilding industry as a design engineer at the age of 20 and has worked for several of the industry’s best known names, including Barratt, Morris and Wainhomes.
He said: “I’m now managing a team of around 20 people, both on site and at our North West regional office and I’m currently concentrating on getting the division’s next garden village off the ground. Daresbury Garden Village, adjacent to our offices, will deliver circa 790 new homes amid large swathes of green space, landscaping, recreation areas and community facilities. It will be a stunning development and I’m looking forward to being part of it all.”
Jason Newton, managing director at Redrow NW, said: “Gareth brings with him a wealth of experience. I know he is passionate about our homes and I’m very much looking forward to seeing the quality of developments he can help us deliver.”
From its offices at Daresbury Park, Redrow NW has circa 15 live outlets across Cheshire and parts of Merseyside and North Wales, building everything from starter homes to large, executive detached houses.
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Growing housebuilder, Anwyl Homes, has a new commercial manager for the Lancashire region.
Daniel Owens has joined Chorley-based Anwyl Homes Lancashire after a 14-year surveying career with Barratt Homes.
In his new role at Anwyl he’ll be heading up a department of three quantity surveyors, a buyer and a new commercial trainee, and working with suppliers and sub-contractors locally to ensure that the business has all the materials it needs and delivers its developments within budget.
He’ll be supporting – and supported by – the Lancashire region’s commercial director Tom Grundy, who has recently taken on a new group role for Anwyl as housing procurement director, focusing on supply chain relationships across the wider business.
Daniel, 34, began his housebuilding career as a trainee with Barratt Manchester, before studying for a HNC qualification at the University of Salford and becoming a quantity surveyor. Latterly he’s been a group surveying manager, servicing different Barratt housing operations across the UK.
Daniel Owens
He said: “The Anwyl role was an exciting opportunity to join a growing company in a senior position and I’d worked with Tom Grundy previously, too. I know the Lancashire area well as our operations extended as far north as Carlisle in my previous roles. Funnily enough, one of my first site visits as a young QS was to Buckshaw Village, where the Anwyl Homes Lancashire offices are now based.”
Directly employing nearly 60 people, the Anwyl Homes Lancashire operation is now active at nine locations in Lancashire, Merseyside and Cheshire. Its newest developments are in Barton, Burscough and Warton, in Lancashire, and Winnington, Cheshire.
John Grime, managing director, said: “With Tom now taking a much wider group role, ensuring we have consistent and competitive supply chain delivery throughout the Anwyl housing business, Daniel is a valuable addition to our Lancashire team. He will be more focused on how those group supply contracts are delivered locally, which will be even more important as our region grows further.”
