Two Devon construction site managers named best in the country for quality

Construction site managers for two of Devon's newest communities have won a top national award for the quality of the homes they are building.

Ex-marine Greig Mills, site manager at David Wilson Homes' Tarka Ridge, Barnstaple and Darren Hall, site manager at Embden Grange, Tavistock have both won the prestigious Pride in the Job award, marking them down as the best in the UK.

The 2021 Quality Award from the National House Building Council (NHBC) puts them in the class of the UK's most exceptional site managers in the country. NHBC'sPride in the Job Quality awards recognise the very finest site managers from around the UK.

In total Barratt site managers won 93 Pride in the Job Quality awards this year. This is the 17th year in a row that Barratt has won more Pride in the Job Quality awards than any other housebuilder, showing its long-term commitment to building high quality homes.

These awards, now in their 41st year, rate site managers against key criteria such as technical expertise, health and s
afety, consistency, leadership and attention to detail. The awards celebrate the vital role site managers play in ensuring new homes are delivered on-time, on safe sites, and to the highest quality standards.

Every site manager who is registered with the NHBC is automatically entered into the awards, with just 450 winners being selected from 11,000 entrants, showing how difficult they are to win.    

Darren Hall, who has overseen the construction of the much needed homes at Embden Grange, Tavistock, a community of 110 two to five bedroom homes, has won the NHBC Pride in the Job Quality Award, having received the prestigious Seal of Excellence award last year for his work at Embden Grange, and previous to that during his first site manager role at another location.

Greig Mills, an ex-marine who is now the site manager of Tarka Ridge, a collection of three, four and five-bedroom homes in Yelland, became a site manager for Barratt Developments as part of their Trainee Assistant Site Manager Programme for the Forces Community, has also been recognised as one of the very best site managers from around the entire country.

Speaking of his win Darren Hall, 33, who has been in house building for seven years after initially starting his career as a tradesman before going to university to study construction management, said:

"It's a great honor to be awarded the Pride in the Job award and a testament to all those working on site here at Embden Grange. We're really proud to be building high quality, sustainable new homes for the people of Devon. The building trade certainly isn't known for glamorous award ceremonies so I hope this win helps demonstrate there is a really exciting and varied career in construction."

Greig Mills, who became a site manager as part of Barratt's Trainee Assistant Site Manager Programme for the Forces Community, said:

"I'm very happy to have won the Pride in the Job award for the work done at Tarka Ridge. It is a real reflection of the contractors all working on site and a credit to the work and dedication of the entire team here at Tarka Ridge and the high standard we strive to work to."

Nicki Reid, sales director at Barratt David Wilson Homes in Devon said:

"These awards showcase only the best new homes and well-run sites and so we are enormously proud of Mike and the team at Tarka Ridge and Darren and the team at Embden Grange. This is great recognition of their hard work and commitment to building some of the highest quality homes in the country. We are delighted to see these new communities taking shape and are looking forward to starting work on further new developments in Devon including Fairfax Heath, Tiverton, next to the soon to be completed Braid Park."

These awards closely follow Barratt Developments being awarded 5 stars by its customers for satisfaction in the annual Home Builders Federation (HBF) new homes survey. To be rated 5 star means that more than 90% of its customers would recommend one of its homes to a friend, with Barratt being the only major national housebuilder to be rated 5 star for 12 years in a row.