Unsworth Sugden Group

May’s Pic of the Month is the opening of The Toybox nursery at The Fairways David Wilson Homes development in Bedford. Launched in early April, the £650,000 facility can cater for up to 73 children up to the age of five years old.

The nursery in Biddenham Vale will employ around 20 local staff and will go towards helping families residing in The Fairways to receive the highest standard of childcare within the local community.

The Toybox was chosen as this month’s Pic of the Month as it goes to show that community spirit is still alive and well!

Photography by Steve Baker.

Staff at The Toybox are eagerly awaiting their new arrivals.

November’s PR pic of the month was selected by a special visitor to the PR team.  David Wilson Homes‘ graduate, Philippa Stewart spent a day with us in the department to see how life is agency-side.  We were delighted to show her around and get to know her better.  It was good to have an independent eye to review the November entries and Philippa’s winning shot is of the tree planting event for client David Wilson North Midlands at De Vessey Village near Sleaford.

Thank you to Page One Photography for a really super image.  Philippa said “The photographer has managed to capture the essence of community spirit by showing how everyone got involved, including the dog! It is great to see the people at the back of the photograph as well, all clearly eager to get involved.”

Client David Wilson Homes East Midlands, has recruited two new people to its land department as the Bardon-based firm steps up its search for new development sites.

Newly recruited John Turner (left) Gareth Staff (right) and centre Managing Director, John Reddington

The appointments come after the company announced that a total of 1,500 jobs will be created thanks to the launch of several new developments across Leicestershire. These positions are integral to this planned growth and will aid the firm secure new locations for its high quality new homes.

John Reddington, Managing Director at David Wilson Homes East Midlands said, “We’re obviously delighted to have more hands on deck to help us acquire new land for the division – which is also great news for the economy.

“One of the best ways to boost economic growth and employment is through building projects. A whole range of jobs are created as part of the process and the people who ultimately move into the new housing will also spend their wages locally, which translates into a significant boost for local retailers.”

Newly recruited John Turner, 23, from Newtown Linford has been appointed as a Land Buyer. He said “It’s great to have secured this position at a company of David Wilson Homes’ stature in a difficult time for graduates. I am looking forward to getting involved with the acquisition of new sites for future projects.”

Gareth Staff, aged 34 from Nottingham has been appointed as Senior Land Manager. He said, “It’s great to work with company where you have real faith in the company’s ethos and product. The role is extremely varied and I’m really enjoying my time here.”

From all here at Unsworth Sugden, best of luck for the future John and Gareth.

Residents enjoying their coffee and cakes

Well done to the residents at client David Wilson Homes’ Newton Park development, who took part in the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning and raised over £700 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

The housebuilder gave a helping hand by accommodating the event in the show home on Wellington Avenue in Newton near Bingham and donating a huge chocolate hamper as a raffle prize.

Ruth Lilley and her parents who have lived at Newton Park since March helped organised the event. She said, “We were expecting to raise about £200 so we’re all thrilled that we’ve so much more has been donated.”

Newly recruited David Wilson Sales Adviser Bridgett helped the residents set up the event. She said, “It’s been so much fun helping out at the fundraiser. There’s a fantastic community spirit here - I’ve only been here a few weeks and the residents have made me feel so welcome.”

What once was just a few new homes in a small, countryside village, Newton is now home to over 80 families and a growing community – the Macmillan coffee morning is just one of a long line of events for them.

Resident Karl Richardson, aged 42 said, “Having lived in cities for quite some time, it’s really refreshing to be in a rural area and Newton Park itself has taken shape as a really welcoming community.”

Congratulation from Unsworth Sugden for raising a remarkable amount for Macmillan Cancer Support and we hope to see future events to turn out just as successful.

A new sports playing field and pavilion named after the Queen, to mark her Diamond Jubilee, has been unveiled in West Bromwich.

And Prince William - HRH the Duke of Cambridge and patron of the Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge - has sent a letter of support to Sandwell Council.

The Queen Elizabeth II Playing Fields are part of client David Wilson Homes’, Churchfields Place and Aspire developments off All Saint’s Way, on the site of the former Churchfields High School.

Funded by David Wilson Homes, the £1 million playing fields include grass sports football pitches with a sports pavilion, all designed to the latest Sport England standards. Also included is a children’s play area.

Sandwell’s Mayor Councillor Keith Davies unveiled a plaque produced by Unsworth Sugden at the playing fields.

Councillor Davies said: “This is the first time for some years that a new sports field and pavilion has been constructed in Sandwell, and it contributes to protecting and enhancing sports provision following the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

The PR team also helped the event by preparing a speech and worked with Sandwell Council’s press office on the press release.  We also sent photographer Steve Baker along to record the event.

Entrance to the sports pavilion.

Unveiled plaque to the new sports playing field and pavilion.

A David Wilson Homes development in Lincolnshire

The end of June marks a huge show of David Wilson Homes support for the RAF. The company showcased its homes and moving packages during the RAF Air Show at Waddington air base, in the last weekend of June. In addition to this, the company was out in force for Armed Forces personnel during the RAF Coningsby family day.

The Unsworth Sugden team have been proud to support David Wilson Homes in their effort to champion the military, in this weekend of community spirit. In Waddington, Service men and women were given the red carpet treatment, courtesy of the popular home builder, with extra Special Forces packages offered throughout the weekend, to make purchasing a brand new home even more tempting. This is in conjunction with the Government backed schemes ‘FirstBuy shared equity’ and ‘NewBuy’, which are military exclusive deals.

Sales Director for David Wilson Homes, Jan Ruston said “We are excited to be part of the event and our team of Sales Advisers are here to look after our Armed Forces visitors helping them move to a fabulous brand new David Wilson home which even comes with a five year guarantee”

In Coningsby, the Servicemen and women buying a brand new David Wilson home were able to create the style of their home before moving in, by qualifying for up to £1,000 in vouchers to spend on bespoke fittings and upgrades from the David Wilson Expressions range. Jan Ruston also commented “We understand that stepping onto the property ladder can be a daunting experience, so our Sales Advisers will be able to answer everything visitors need to know about moving to a pristine new home.”

The events bolstered support and awareness for cohesion and backing of the work the Armed Forces do, and it was an absolute pleasure for the Unsworth Sugden team to be involved.

Andrew and John - toadless!

Leading housebuilder David Wilson Homes East Midlands has marked the presence of some special neighbours at the company’s Parker’s Place development in Mountsorrel by installing unique house plaques especially produced by local craftsmen.

David Wilson Homes is keen to ensure that development at Parker’s Place is sympathetic to its surroundings and has given careful consideration to the adjacent pond, home toad population of common toads (or their proper name is ‘Bufo Bufo’).

David Wilson Homes’ planning and technical team worked in conjunction with Charnwood Borough Council and Ecological Consultants, to implement innovative engineering and design measures allowing both development at Parker’s Place and habitat protection to go hand in hand.

A specially designed drainage system which prevents the toads from getting trapped in gullies has been installed as part of the development. Small gaps have been added in fences which allow the toads to pass through the residents’ gardens easily.

John Deakin, Planning Manager at David Wilson East Midlands comments: “It’s our core philosophy to take into consideration the habitats that may be disturbed when developing a new residential scheme. We go to great lengths to ensure we have suitable measures in place to protect wildlife both during and after the construction phase”

We sent photographer Toby Savage down, along with the Planning Manager at David Wilson Homes, John Deakin and Assistant Ecologist Andrew Burrows, to catch a glimpse at the residents, but alas, naturally, the toads were shy and wouldn’t play ball. As the old adage goes “Never work with children or animals”, I suppose…

One of the toad plaques

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.

The PR team ended the week on a high today, with a successful media event at the former Shrewsbury Town FC ground – Gay Meadow - which is now being transformed into a bespoke new housing development by client David Wilson Mercia.

Now named Riverside Meadow the team has been planning a month of launch events at the scheme, aimed at both the media and potential customers.

Today’s event saw local online, press and broadcast media visit the site for one to one tours and interviews with key personnel at David Wilson Homes.

The planning paid off with a great result in the Shropshire Star and on BBC Radio Shropshire, in fact the story was so well received the paper used it as its front page lead and the radio selected it as its headline news bulletin throughout the afternoon show.

Spacious modern family homes from David Wilson at Farndon Fields

The PR team was delighted to secure a feature on BBC Breakfast this week for client David Wilson Homes.  The piece featured a family from Market Harborough and their beautiful new home at Farndon Fields.  Watch the story for yourself HERE.