Site manager scoops Pride in the Job award

Pat O’Hara, site manager at our Grange Park development in Telford, has been named one of the NHBC’s West region’s Pride in the Job award winners for 2022 and is now in contention to scoop one of the region’s top awards.

The award win recognises the excellent and consistent standards Pat has driven whilst managing a team of more than 40 contractors, including bricklayers, groundworkers, scaffolders, carpenters, roof tilers, plumbers, plasterers, and painters.

Pat said: “I was chuffed to bits when I heard the news. It’s something I’ve been pushing for for a few years now and it’s great to have the recognition.

“The NHBC come out to all sites registered with them several times during a build, right up to completion, to inspect the quality of the work. You have to be on it at every stage to win a Quality Award.

“My secret is working with contractors from day one and setting my stall out from the beginning so that everybody knows what we’re trying to achieve and what standards are expected. You have to create a consistent standard and that attention to detail from all of the trades right through to the cleaners just before handover.

“There have been some challenges with this site, starting with the drainage which had to be redesigned at the start of the build. But the biggest issue, which is the same for every site in the country is around materials. With issues like Covid and the war in Ukraine there’s so much uncertainty now whereas before you could always rely on your deliveries arriving.”

From a nationwide field of more than 8,000 candidates, 443 were honoured with a Quality Award in this year’s NHBC Pride in the Job awards 2022, with Pat being one of 37 in the West region. Site managers are assessed on six key area: consistency, attention to detail, leadership, interpretation of drawings and specifications, technical expertise and health and safety.

Bromford head of construction Simon Kershaw added: “We see all of our site managers as directors primarily because they manage everything from the health and safety of all of people on the site, through to setting the standards, quality and overseeing budgets and programme. It’s probably fair to say the job has become more challenging in the past two years but with Pat’s drive for perfection and a keen eye for detail we are incredibly proud of his achievements. These are the consistently high standards we strive for across all of our development sites.”

We're building 48 new homes at Grange Park. Work started in May 2021, and the first homes were completed this spring. Thirty-four of the homes are for rent, while the remaining 14 are for part-buy, part-rent shared ownership, which have all been reserved. The development is due to be completed in December.