Award-winning site manager is so proud of his team at Hounsome Fields in Basingstoke
A Vistry Group site manager at Hounsome Fields in Basingstoke has won a prized award for the quality of his work.
The Pride in the Job Quality Awards are organised by the National House Building Council (NHBC) to recognise the efforts of exceptional site managers at developments all over the country.
James Berry, 39, who lives in Eastleigh, in Hampshire, is the proud recipient of one of these awards for his work at the development, where properties have been built in a joint venture between Wates Group and Vistry Group. Vistry Group have built the homes under its Linden Homes and Bovis Homes brands
“My overriding feeling is for the guys on site and how proud I am of the site team,” said James.
He previously won the award in 2021 for a different phase of the same development and on that occasion went on to win at the next stage of the competition, gaining a Seal of Excellence as well.
James, who started in the construction industry as a apprentice bricklayer at the age of 18, came to work for Bovis Homes nine years ago as a site manager. Most recently he has been overseeing construction of the Linden Homes part of Hounsome Fields, which is now complete.
He is shortly to move on to a role as a project manager, so next year he will not be eligible for the Pride in the Job awards, and he says that this spurred on his team even more to support him in gaining the award this year.
He said: “The team were so happy and even though it’s a site manager’s award they were happy for me and for the site. They said, ‘we felt we wanted to do it for you’ and that was nice to hear.”
James said that creating an environment where everyone working on site gets to know each other and understands the high expectations there, means that they meet those standards because they don’t want to let their colleagues down.
He said: “The whole team from me to the site labourers have all worked really hard. I sent them a message to say how proud I am and how hard they have worked. It’s easy to cut corners but none of them are like that. Even if it’s more work or if it takes longer, they all think ‘let’s do it right.’”
James said he became a bricklayer because he loved seeing what he had achieved at the end of each day. “It’s no different now, because I have that on a bigger scale,” he said.
“I just love that feeling. On a personal level from seeing the site just as a field to seeing families move into a house they love, there’s great satisfaction in that and even greater satisfaction now.”
There are now just Bovis Homes properties remaining for sale at Hounsome Fields, with a final selection of four and five-bedroom detached houses available. To find out more, visit bovishomes.co.uk.