A new year brings new challenges, refreshed drive and enthusiasm to achieve. Well, it does here at Northstone.
We asked some of our team what they’re most looking forward to seeing this year …
GRAEME WOODS – SALES EXEC, SILKASH
New year’s resolution: Determined to get back into the gym for 2023!
Excited about: Seeing our Silkash community completed
“It won’t be long before we complete our Silkash community in Westhoughton and the remaining residents get their keys and move in. Our street scenes and the neighbourhood already look fantastic, but it’ll be incredible to see it finished. It holds a pretty special place in our team’s hearts as the very first project we started, back when people didn’t know what Northstone had in store and couldn’t see how our homes would stand out for the crowd. Jacob’s Place, our first adapted, accessible home for families with care needs, will welcome its first residents this year too! I’ve been in the Huddle since day one and have loved getting to know everyone as they’ve moved in.”
RICHARD O’BRIEN – DESIGN DIRECTOR
Excited about: Our demonstrator eco-homes
“I’m really excited to step into our two prototype eco homes that we’re building. Homebuilders are being really challenged to rise to the issues of climate change as soon as they can, with the industry needing to meet Future Homes Standard by 2025. We’re getting ahead of the game and trialling new building methods, materials and technology to further reduce emissions from our sustainable homes. We’ll then test them to see how well they perform and get critical insights into potential changes in the way we build our homes in the years to come.”
HANNAH FLORY – DESIGN MANAGER - ARCHITECT
New year’s resolution: To see how far we can push our designs to further reduce our carbon footprint and environmental impacts.
Excited about: Getting going on new development sites
“No matter how long you’ve been in the industry, starting on a new development site is always both a challenge and something to get excited about. Following consent last year, we’re gearing up to begin in Horwich in Bolton. That will be fantastic, as it’s where we’re delivering some of our new house types for the very first time, such as our bungalows and multi-generational homes … something very few developers are doing. Subject to consent, we’re also planning to start construction at Scotforth Road in Lancaster, delivering some of the most sustainable homes we’ll have built to date.”
JON ENGLAND – DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
New year’s resolution: I don’t normally make New Year Resolutions as I see every day as a chance to grasp new opportunities and remain positive. For me 2023 will be about giving more back, doing more for charity and embracing friends and family.
Excited about: Bringing our design-led homes to new places
“We’ve proved what we’re about now - high-quality, sustainable homes that totally challenge the outdated perceptions of new build homes. I’m looking forward to this year taking our brand and offer to new locations. We’re looking at new sites to the north of Manchester and will this year start developing them in more detail and consulting with local stakeholders and residents. It’ll be nice to not only be able show artist impressions, but actually take decision-makers to some of our existing communities so they can see for themselves the level of quality they’ll get from Northstone.”
CHRISSIE BRAMHALL – SOCIAL VALUE MANAGER
New year’s resolution: In 2022 I ran two half marathon’s, 2023 is the year of the bike!! I commit to completing a distance of 50 miles on my road bike.
Excited about: Nurturing existing and striking up new community partnerships
“We worked really hard last year to forge meaningful relationships in the schools, colleges and communities where we work, in turn demonstrating genuine social value from our developments. We’ve got so much in the pipeline to get excited about this year including, continuing our work within the education and training sectors, welcoming ambitious young people down to our construction sites and supporting local not-for-profit organisations. We’ll be continuing to build our onsite communities and be providing valuable services to the towns where we’ve communities underway.”
JO ALLEN – HEAD OF PARTNERSHIPS / OPS DIRECTOR OF LETTA
New year’s resolution: Learn a language…it’s been on the list before but 2023 is going to be the year…Lo prometo!!
Excited about: Seeing a wave of new residents building a life in a Northstone home.
“It’s easy to get caught up in the detail and challenges of delivering a major construction project, but we never lose sight of why we do it – to create stunning places to live where people can build their lives and make memories. It’s been brilliant to welcome residents into their new communities and watch them settle in and form friendships. There’ll be loads more of that this coming year and through Letta, we’ll be bringing over 90 rental homes to the market too, so that’ll open up a Northstone home to those that might love our properties but not be in a position to buy right now.”
KIRSTY GODRICH – SENIOR MARKETING MANAGER
New year’s resolution: To go to more gigs and see loads more live music!
Excited about: Making the new brand work harder to tell the continued growth story of Northstone.
“As a new homebuilder, we’ve had to build the brand and all of our content from scratch. We’ve created something pretty special now and we can’t wait to take that even further this year. We’ll continue to trial various forms of reel content to challenge the ever-changing Insta algorithms, dabble with TikTok and have fun creating new video content with our residents, and fab Northstone team. We’re looking forward to telling the stories behind our eco-home prototypes, curating our in-person experiences and going above and beyond with our sustainability and social value strategies.”
BERNI BARRY – SENIOR DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
New year’s resolution: To practice what I preach and make time each day to get outside into nature
Excited about: Putting sustainability at the heart of our community partnerships
“We love supporting local causes and groups, it’s even better when we can combine those partnerships with our mission to build homes in a more sustainable way. It’ll be brilliant to do exactly that this year, continuing our work with the Wildlife Trust to better connect our communities to nature as well as Men In Sheds – local groups who take waste timber from our sites and give them a new lease of life as benches, bird tables, bat boxes and planters, amongst other things. I am also really looking forward to seeing our Huddle from Silkash begin its next chapter as the hub for construction learning at the Wigan-based charity Apple Cast. What better way to invest in the skills of the next generation than providing a space which they can have a hand in building and then use to learn vital skills for a future career in property.”
