Burnopfield site manager retains National Accolade

Chris Thornton who works for Robertson Homes on its Bowes Manor development in Burnopfield, is celebrating having received a Quality Award from the National House Building Council (NHBC) Pride in the Job Awards.

Chris will now be put forward for the prestigious national Seal of Excellence, another award he collected in 2023.

Running for 44 years, Pride in the Job Quality Awards are awarded by NHBC, the UK’s leading new homes warranty and insurance provider, and are the most highly regarded in the house-building industry and a prestigious benchmark for exceptional site managers. With only 449 winners selected out of more than 8,000 sites across the UK, the recipients represent the top 5% of UK site managers.

Andy Dodds, regional director at Robertson Homes North East, said: “We are immensely proud of Chris and the whole construction team at Bowes Manor. Quality is at the heart of everything we do at Robertson Homes and for this to be recognised by the NHBC is testament to their skill and attention to detail. Our customers will be delighted their homes are being built by such a competent and dedicated team.”

Judging for the awards is rigorous, with the current competition beginning in July last year. Each site manager is assessed across six key areas: consistency, attention to detail, leadership, interpretation of drawings and specifications, technical expertise and health and safety. Thousands of site inspections and meticulous scoring and verifications have taken place to decide the winning site managers.

Commenting on the awards, Steve Wood, CEO at NHBC said: “For more than four decades, Pride in the Job has underpinned NHBC’s purpose of raising standards in house building. The competition recognises the UK’s top site managers, showcasing best practice and rewarding excellence.

“Winning site managers demonstrate dedication, passion and leadership to ensure new homes are delivered to exacting construction quality standards. While house building is a team effort, we believe the greatest influence on the quality of a finished home is the calibre of the site manager and the way they inspire their team. Congratulations to all the winners.”

The flagship competition has three categories for different sized businesses: small, medium and large house builders, plus a multi-storey category where site managers are working on projects up to seven storeys for multiple occupancy and finally the high-rise category for multiple occupancy projects over seven storeys.

The Quality Award winners will now go on to compete for Seal of Excellence and Regional Awards in the autumn, with the national Supreme Award winners unveiled in January 2025.