Bedfordshire site manager named as best in the country for quality

Sam Harding (31) has won a Pride in the Job award from the National House Building Council (NHBC), an award known as the ‘Oscars’ of the housebuilding industry.

In total, site managers working for Barratt Homes’ parent company, Barratt Redrow, have won 115 Pride in the Job awards this year alone – more than any other housebuilder.

This is the 21st year in a row that Barratt Redrow has won the most Pride in the Job awards, underlining just how important building high quality sustainable homes has been to the developer over the past two decades.

Sam has worked for Barratt Homes for eight years, starting his career as a labourer and eventually being promoted to site manager at Willow Grove in 2022.

Sam said: “It was an unbelievable feeling when I first realised I had won this award. It takes a lot of passion and effort to run a development effectively, and receiving recognition like this is testament to everyone’s hard work at Willow Grove.

“The success at the development is very much a team effort, and so there are many people to thank, no more so than my assistant site manager and trainee assistant site manager Matt Obrien-Jones and Roland Reider. Our amazing contracts manager, Lee Addington, also needs some recognition, as well as our contractors, sub-contractor, and everyone else who makes Willow Grove the amazing place it is.”

The awards recognise the top 5% of site managers across the country, with around 8,200 sites being entered into the awards annually, and only 450 winners. Each is judged on a strict criteria including technical expertise, health and safety, leadership and attention to detail.

Simon Francis, Managing Director at Barratt Homes Northampton, said: “We’re so proud of Sam for achieving this prestigious Pride in the Job Quality award. It’s amazing news for both the team at Willow Grove and for our customers.

“These awards showcase what it takes to be a top site manager and demonstrates our long-term commitment to looking after our customers. Anyone who buys a home at a development with a Pride in the Job Quality Award winner knows their home has been built to the highest standard. We are very proud to have won more of these awards than any other homebuilder for 21 years in a row now.”

The awards closely follow Barratt Redrow being awarded five stars by its customers for satisfaction in the annual Home Builders Federation (HBF) new homes survey. To be rated as five-star means that more than 90% of customers would recommend a home to a friend, with Barratt Redrow being the only major national homebuilder to be rated five-star for 16 years in a row.

To find out more about any nearby developments in the county, visit the website at Barratt Homes in Bedfordshire.