Unsworth Sugden Group

Stuart Stokes, Site Manager, with students from The Lyng Primary School with their designs behind them on the construction site’s hoardings.

Children from The Lyng Primary School, have leant their artistic talents to client Barratt West Midlands at its The Lyng development, and recently visited the site to see how their creative flair has been used to decorate the construction site’s hoardings.

Local residents are being advised to keep their eyes peeled for fresh artistic designs as the hoardings are set to be updated with new pictures from the area’s youngsters every few months.

“We’re delighted with the artwork that the children have produced” commented Katie Yates, Sales Manager for Barratt West Midlands. “It has given the site a real splash of colour and we’ve all been really impressed with the creativity of the children’s pictures.

“It was great that the children had a chance to see how their creative efforts have contributed to the site. Our aim at The Lyng is to involve local people as much as possible and working with nearby schools is an important part of that.

“We would like to thank The Lyng Primary School and all the children for taking part, their artwork gives the site a real boost. We’re thoroughly looking forward to seeing what they create for our hoardings as the months go by.”

Unsworth Sugden designers helped produce creative hoardings turning the children’s artwork into large scale graphics.  We also sent a photographer down to site to get a few pictures!

A Barratt Homes show home in Buckingham, has been kitted out with a pink theme to help raise awareness of the Breast Cancer Campaign.

The brightly coloured show home at Windsor Park on London Road boasts hot pink walls, a girl’s room with a ballet theme, as well as pink curtains, mirrors and wallpaper throughout the house.

Barratt Homes has also asked its construction teams to switch their standard yellow high viz waistcoats for some girly pink ones and wear them on site on today (Friday 26^th October).  Visitors to Windsor Park may find the traditional masculine builder looking a little more feminine! They will even wear pink hard hats too!

Barratt Homes’ Northampton division will be donating £100 to the breast cancer care charity for every home reserved at Windsor Park during October.

Sales director Sue Blackman said, “We are delighted to show our support for this incredibly worthwhile cause and the charity deserves every bit of help it can get.”

Everyone here at Unsworth Sugden hope that they raise as much as possible for the Breast Cancer Care charity. We’re also doing our bit by wearing pink in the office today.  Look out for pictures!

Inside the show home which is kitted out in pink.

Construction team on site dressed in pink!

July’s PR pic of the month was taken by Page One at the former Saltergate stadium in Chesterfield.  Once home to Chesterfield FC the site is now owned by client Barratt Homes.  Spireites were able to collect memorabilia as the old stadium was demolished and this picture shows the final floodlight after it was pushed over by a high reach excavator.

Barratt site team at the former Saltergate stadium

Thanks to Page One who took some really edgy shots which we think actually benefit from the the gloomy day, on this, attempt two of demolition.  Their imagination meant that the massive floodlight structure became and integral artistic element of the shot and asking the subjects to actually get inside the metal frame was genius, giving some great angles, shapes and perspectives.

A previous visit was scuppered when debris on site prevented the demolition from actually taking place.  Not to let down the client, the photographer managed to pull some equally dramatic shots out of the bag on that earlier visit.  So enjoy a second image in this our monthly picture feature.

Barratt staff at Saltergate stadium before the floodlight came down

Bob Lawson (L) and Andy Peters (R)

The PR pic of the month for March is by SGB Photography aka the brilliant Steve Baker.  It shows Barratt Group Chairman Bob Lawson and Mercia division MD, Andy Peters at the company’s new office opening in Solihull.

The PR team managed the event and Steve captured some really excellent pictures to support there press release.  We were pleased with the selection of formal shots and the more candid ones like this.

We are lucky to have worked with this client for many years and helped promote their previous office opening back in 2007.  We wish Merica the best of luck in their new office and look forward to continuing to support the company throughout their plans for growth over the next few years.

To mark National Apprenticeship Week, Unsworth Sugden have been showcasing the talents of some of our clients’ up-and-coming apprentices.

The week, which took place from February 6^th to February 10^th, focused all eyes on apprenticeships across the country, raising the profile among employers, individuals, teachers, the media and parents.

One young apprentice who has been setting the mark for everyone else is 20-year-old Scott Walker from Sutton Coldfield.

Currently studying towards his NVQ Level 3 in carpentry at South Birmingham College while working as a carpenter at Barratt Homes’ Horizon development, Scott has already scooped two prestigious awards including being named as Apprentice of the Year 2011. Alan Sugar cast your eyes this way.

Scott, who has been an apprentice with Barratt West Midlands for nearly two years, commented: “I’ve been working as a carpenter at Horizon but have also been able to work on other trades such as roofing.

“The variety of jobs is great and I have a really good working relationship with my Site Manager Mike Farrell.

“Winning two awards during my two years at Barratt West Midlands has been amazing. I was stunned when I found out.”

Scott Walker (20) named Apprentice of the Year 2011

Barratt Homes is currently looking for new trade apprentices starting in September 2012 across the country. For more information visit www.buildingcareerstogether.co.uk/graduates-and-apprentices and maybe you could be their next apprentice.

Horizon is situated in the Canal side Quarter of Wolverhampton - a newly emerging urban village located in the centre of the city. The development is a unique architectural landmark capturing the spirit of innovation, a great place for any apprentice to start their career.

Pink and shiny, Valentine's Day summed up in a sweet wrapper

Today is the day to show your other half how much they mean to you. Or politely disincline if you are fed up of seeing couples frolicking around with little floating hearts surrounding them.

But here at Unsworth Sugden it is a great chance to show clients that little bit extra TLC and make the most of the one day of the year where everything seems to turn red and pink.

Across the country star struck people will be celebrating love in one way or another with the usual cards, chocolates and grand gestures, and the PR team are no exception working hard on promoting what special offers are available from our clients.

The David Wilson Homes South Midlands team have been busy playing cupid by not only matching buyers to their dream homes but also by helping them to make that leap of faith up the aisle as well.

The team made a one-off offer to pay for a good proportion of the cost towards buyers wedding day (£5,000 in fact) when purchasing with them - and you can bet that couples all over Cambridgeshire were scrambling among one another to beat last weekend’s deadline of reserving their dream homes to start their lives together.

However if you did miss the boat, no need to panic because there are plenty more offers available to help make the Valentine’s Day loved-up feeling last longer.

Barratt West Midlands and David Wilson Mercia still have £500 up for grabs towards a romantic getaway with your loved one when you reserve a property between now and February 26^th and legally complete the sale before June 22^nd. Just quote ‘Cupid01′ to your sales advisor when enquiring.

These are just a few of the ways the PR team try to use seasonal events to generate a news hook and grab buyer’s interest for our clients.

But fear not if you don’t have a special someone to celebrate today with, here is a small reassuring fact to take away with you for those of us who wonder if they are the only single person left on the planet. In South Korea it is a tradition for single people to get together on a designated day of their own and unite over black noodles called Jajangmyeon, and mourn their single lives two months after Valentine’s Day on April 14.

It’s not a tradition I can see catching on in the UK but who knows, it’s always an option for those not lucky enough to be in love and looking for property.

A LOT of the work done in the Unsworth Sugden PR department for our property clients involves contacting homebuyers - or as we know them Happy Buyers - for third party testimonials and drafting their stories into press releases.

They are the unbiased voices of people, who our clients including Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes, work so hard to please (hence the name Happy Buyers).

Calling buyers up and asking them about their moving experience has been one of my favourite bits of what I have done during my work experience so far, but it has at times proven to be difficult.

Not everyone wants to share the details of their move with you and sometimes it’s hard to catch people when they’re busy working.

But it is always nice to get to the end of an interview and say as a thank you they can have a complimentary bottle of champagne and keep copies of their photographs taken by our dedicated photographers in their new homes.

Happy Buyer’s illustrate the benefits of buying new and buying with the Barratt or David Wilson brand, their stories – as Hannah, director of PR tells me – are the bread and butter of the work carried out by the PR team. They really do bring a press release to life and give it that human interest.

My first Happy Buyer case study I attempted was contacting a retired couple who had moved to the beautiful Water’s Edge development built by Barratt West Midlands in Stourport-on-Severn. They were very friendly and helpful and told me all about how satisfied they were with their brand new home and the convenience of its location.

Brenda and Richard in their new Barratt Home at Water's Edge

So thank you to Richard and Brenda Millis for taking the time to ease me into talking to Happy Buyers, hopefully before my week’s experience is finished I will have been able to attempt a few more.

This month, client Barratt North Midlands has been promoting a ‘New Year New You’ mantra with a health and fitness themed launch event at its Nottingham based development, The Fairways.

Visitors were treated to a healthy selection of food and refreshments, as well as some excersize and dietary help from a health and fitness adviser from local leisure centre Chilwell Olympia.

We commissioned a photographer from Page One to cover the event and he gave us this great shot of Sales Adviser Andrew Handslip getting some advice on his New Year fitness regime! 

Client Barratt North Midlands was joined by two very special guests last month, to help celebrate the launch of its latest Nottingham development, The Courtyard on Barlock Road.

The PR Team put their heads together and came up with the idea of inviting some X Factor judge look-a-likes along to spend the day meeting and greeting visitors. People flocked to visit the development and see Dan Hadfield and Jenna Scottow AKA Gary Barlow and Tulisa, who we invited to be the guests of honour at the X Factor themed launch. Since the event they have had a lot of interest from magazines and TV programmes. They have even appeared on The Xtra Factor with the real judges as their ‘fake judge’ look-a-likes, and had their picture in Heat Magazine!

Client Barratt West Midlands had some extraordinary visitors at its Monarch Fields development in Telford during a Part Exchange event weekend this month.

A selection of animals from Hoo Farm Animal Kingdom located a few minutes drive from the development on Humber Lane were out to meet and greet visiting families, and included a meerkat, a Burmese python, a racoon and a barn owl.