Celebrating and visiting member projects in the North

This month, I’ve been catching up with members and visiting sites to check out the amazing work delivered by Master Builders in the North.

York Builder wins Best Individual New Home

Master Builder company York Builder, from the Yorkshire & Trent region, recently won Best Individual New Home at the LABC Awards for their project ‘Ferry Lane’.

Ferry Lane is a high-specification family home using Randers linear-facing bricks and large amounts of zinc cladding, which was completed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The home features multi-levelled open plan living with four double bedrooms with ensuites and full house automation. York Builder said it was one of the best homes they have built to date!

The project was built on a site that had previously been home to an old bungalow. Once the site was cleared of all original structures, work commenced to relocate the new building away from the old footprint and, importantly, out of direct risk of flooding from the nearby River Ouse. Construction was completed a little over one year later whilst navigating the COVID-19 outbreak and the unprecedented material shortages. The home features high insulation levels and air tightness scores with full house automation systems controlling everything from lighting to heating, music systems to window blinds.

Well done to the team at York Builder! Don’t forget our own Master Builder Awards have also just opened for nominations. It is free to enter, so why not start your nomination today?

Chris Carr appointed FMB National Vice President

On 20 September 2022, Chris Carr, Director of Cleethorpes-based FMB member company Carr & Carr (Builders) Ltd (from the Yorkshire and Trent region) was elected as the new National Vice President of the FMB at the national Annual General Meeting.

Chris is the fourth generation of his family to manage Carr & Carr (Builders) Ltd, which is a housing development company and family business in Lincolnshire that has been running for more than 100 years. Chris is a long-standing member of the FMB who has been active in his local community. Chris has attended FMB Branch meetings in Grimsby since he was in his late 20’s and held the post of Chairman and Treasurer of the local branch for more than 20 years.

Chris has also held numerous positions within the FMB including Chair of the Home Builder Group, President of the Yorkshire and Trent region, and member of the FMB’s National Board of Directors – a position he has held since 2018. In September 2022, Chris was elected by fellow members to join the FMB’s national Presidential Team as National Vice President.

Chris has extensive industry experience. In addition to his FMB positions, Chris has held many industry roles including Chair of the Construction Leadership Council’s SME Homebuilders Group, Council Member of the National House Building Council, Member of the North Lincolnshire Construction Apprenticeship Partnership, Chair of the North East Lincolnshire Housing and Development Board, Council Member representing the SME construction sector at CITB’s English Council meetings, and many more roles.

I’d like to congratulate Chris on being elected as the FMB’s new National Vice President. His passion, knowledge and insight will be a great asset on FMB’s Presidential team.

If you’d like to know more about the FMB’s governance, or the work of your local Area Board, please contact me.

Breathing life back into the high street while preserving history

In early October, I visited an excellent project delivered by one of our valued members, Rhodes Joinery & Building Services Ltd, based in Elland, West Yorkshire.

Elland is a town that was once thriving, but with the arrival of big supermarkets, most of the local traders just couldn't compete and unfortunately went bust. Yet, Rhodes Joinery & Building Services could still see the potential of the small town, so they decided to purchase a struggling hardware shop, Cooper Kitchens. The idea was to transform it into a new bar/restaurant while retaining its rich, local history and name. Cooper Kitchens was built in the 1800s and named after its founder, Cooper Kitchen. Mr Kitchen was a well-known Ironmonger, mill furnisher and bicycle manufacturer of Elland. He produced ten models of tricycles, bicycles, and penny-farthing in the region, including the popular Elland Anti-vibration safety bicycle.

When they first purchased the property, no one had any idea of what was to come in the form of the pandemic, but once the realities of lockdown had set in, the team paused and took stock of the situation. They made the hard decision to scale back on Coopers temporarily and to ensure that they could keep their joiners and plumbers in work during the quieter period. And it was during this period that they began to notice an online trend gathering steam with numerous social media posts from locals calling for small, locally-inspired produce. This convinced them to take a punt and rent the property opposite Coopers to create a new store aptly named Roots Wholefoods.

Roots Wholefoods sells a wide range of products, including fresh fruit and vegetables, locally sourced and produced cheeses, sausages and local artisan gins, beers and ciders. The shop also has a weigh-your-own station with cereals, flour, fruit, nuts to ensure that people only buy what they need and cut down on food waste. The locals, particularly the elderly, also felt more confident shopping at Roots Wholefoods during the pandemic than at large supermarkets. Roots Wholefoods went as far as to offer a home delivery service and partnered up with the only remaining Elland butcher located right across the street from the shop. Eventually the disruption caused by the pandemic eased, and the team ramped up work on Coopers, which opened on 2 December 2021.

Everything has been sympathetically refurbished to maintain the rich history of the building. The walls were stripped back to the original brick, and the bar itself and tables were handmade by our team. "We commissioned a talented local artist, Richard Everett, to hand-paint a huge mural from local historical photographs. We also display a TV loop of thousands of local pictures sent to us by residents. The hope is that when businesses see others taking a chance and becoming successful, it will attract further investment into Elland."

If you’d like to be arrange a site visit for one of your projects in the North, please get in touch. 

Authors

Caroline Meehan

FMB North Hub Director, Federation of Master Builder (FMB)

Caroline Meehan is the Northern Regional Director at the Federation of Master Builders (FMB). Since joining the FMB in February 2018, Caroline has successfully grown the Northern boards and introduced several key strategies to increase member engagement through the North and UK.  She has strengthened relationships with LABC to encourage a stronger partnership between both FMB and LABC and now sits on several committees and Boards, such as Leeds College of Building, Vice Chair of Construction Alliance North East, Working Well Together N&W Yorkshire and NE and Health and Safety groups. Prior to working for the FMB, Caroline lived and worked in Australia where she founded a not for profit charity, Heartfelt Homes. Heartfelt Homes provides an essential accommodation service to regional and rural families across Australia when they have a critically ill or injured loved one admitted to a city hospital far from home. Caroline won several awards for her work and was nominated for the pride of Australia medal.