Independent builder wins prestigious awards
Independent South West builder C G Fry & Son Limited, well known for their part in the building of the internationally-known and prestigious Poundbury, Dorchester development with The Duchy of Cornwall, has been named as having four winning sites in the ‘Pride in the Job 2014’ awards.
The awards cover four individual developments for the company across the South West for sites based in Devon, Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire for which each Individual C G Fry & Son site managers has won a National House Building Council, (NHBC) ‘Pride in the Job 2014’ quality award.
The quality awards organised by the National House Building Council (NHBC) for the South West region is the highest industry accolade a site manager can receive. Having run for 34 years, ‘Pride in the Job’ is the house-building industry's most prestigious awards programme and continues to recognise the UK's best site managers. *‘Pride in the Job Quality Awards’ and ‘Single Home Commendation Awards’ in the Small, Medium, Large and Multi-Storey builder categories were presented to the best 446 site managers from an initial pool of 15,000.
Philip Fry, Managing Director C G Fry & Son says: “To have four individual site managers each win a quality award in as many different counties across the region is fantastic and publicly recognises the high standards we are maintaining at C G Fry. Our mid to long-term business plan formulated ten years’ ago, was to expand and develop into a regional developer whilst maintaining our on-going quality and attention to detail. Winning four individual awards across the region is a major achievement and is the result of the drive and passion of our valued site managers and their teams. It is always pleasing to be publicly recognised by an independent body such as the NHBC and this prestigious accolade endorses the company’s goals which has now come to fruition and is a reflection of all the hard work by the dedicated staff.”
The regional awards for C G Fry & Son sites include winning site manager Aubrey Harris for an affordable housing project constructed on behalf of Sovereign Housing Association built in Whipton, Exeter to PassivHaus standards and also David Pillinger of Fern Green development in Langport, Somerset.
Aubrey, an air-tightness champion, was the driving force behind the successful completion of the award-winning affordable housing project of nine new apartments in Exeter. The innovative project was the first of its type for both C G Fry and Sovereign Housing, built to PassivHaus Principles. Sovereign Housing is well-known for its ethos of making a real difference by making sure the homes they build and the services they provide allow residents to live the best life they can. It is the first housing association to deliver apartments to PassivHaus Principles on infill land in Exeter.
With a construction value of £1.1m, funding of £690,140 was made available through Recycled Capital Grant Funding and £124,360 provided by Exeter City Council. The six, 1-bedroom and three, 2-bedroom flats reached air integrity below the objective of .75 with some test results achieving more than the original expectation. Purely through passive design elements, the new flats at Bevan House, Exeter will use approximately 90% less heating energy when compared to a standard UK building (2010 Building Regulation requirements).
Jason Walker, Sovereign’s Development Officer, says: “C G Fry did an extremely good job in respect to the quality of the build and they exceeded the overall air tightness of the scheme which is a very important aspect in relation to PassivHaus developments.”
Aubrey Harris, site manager C G Fry & Son says: “This is my second award, however my first with C G Fry & Son. I feel honoured to be publicly recognised as Bevan House was an ambitious project and a very challenging site. It was absolutely a team effort to get these great results.”
Kevin Murch, Construction Director C G Fry & Son Ltd says: “The NHBC is well-respected in the construction industry which looks at the consistency of good workmanship. To win these prestigious multi-awards across a number of sites compounds the ongoing demand for a high standard of build and embraces the overall ethos of the company as a whole. I am particularly proud of Aubrey as it was the first project of its type for both C G Fry & Son and Sovereign Housing and it was delivered at a very high standard. It was extremely challenging build in terms of both design and management which the construction team met head-on. The turning point was Aubrey getting the team to grasp a new concept of building a very different type of project and move forward. A fantastic achievement and well deserved.”
David Pillinger site manager for Fern Green, Langport in Somerset has been with the company for two years and this is his first construction award. ‘Fern Green' is a development of three and four bedroom homes reflecting the character and charm of rural Somerset. It is adjacent to the company’s ‘Old Kelways’ site in Huish Episcopi which previously won an NHBC quality award for former site manager, Jason Hockey.
David Pillinger who has worked for two years with C G Fry & Son says: “I am very happy and elated to win this award and it’s a great achievement for the workforce on site as it was a real team effort. Getting this recognition clearly shows the quality of the sub-contractors we carefully select and the standard of the workmanship and their pride in the job which delivers results. We give them the tools and time to produce the quality of the standard that C G Fry sets and I am proud that they can they are also being publicly recognised for all their hard work and commitment.”
Kevin Murch, Construction Director C G Fry comments: “I am delighted for David as this is his first award with C G Fry. It is very well deserved as he and his team are passionate about the delivery of quality work. It is also particularly satisfying as we previously won a NHBC award for Old Kelways so we have two winning sites at Langport. I want to also take this opportunity to thank Jason Hockey the contracts manager for Fern Green, who has led the team to ensure we have maintained these very high standards.”
