A family owned organisation with a longstanding history of both designing and building luxury homes, Bentier Homes operates out of its Reading head office and provides a leading service for the planning, designing, and creating of exclusive luxury housing developments for resale. Not just looking to build houses, but instead
The Government has pledged to build 300,000 homes per year to solve the current housing shortage. However, in order to meet the demand for the new building projects, the UK construction industry needs an estimated 400,000 new workers every year until 2021. The shortfall has been blamed on failure to
A research from Unispace, the global design firm, has revealed that the noise and distraction coming from open plan workplaces are preventing employees from focusing on tasks that require high levels of concentration and minimum disruption. The global study of working practices and workplace design included more than 11,000 workers.
A family owned organisation with a longstanding history of both designing and building luxury homes, Bentier Homes operates out of its Reading head office and provides a leading service for the planning, designing, and creating of exclusive luxury housing developments for resale. Not just looking to build houses, but instead to create homes for its customers, Bentier Homes comes to the fore by tailor-making properties to suit specific locations whilst also maintaining the highest standard of workmanship across all properties. Through the individualisation of property design, the company effectively delivers homes which fit neatly into communities, add aesthetic value, and effectively contribute to the locality beyond the base provision of housing stock. Also noteworthy for the attention to detail, the finish of Bentier Homes developments is regarded as head and shoulders above the rest. Including everything from the building of the house all the way through to aspects such as landscaping and more, this attention to detail sees the company offering a comprehensive development package which allows for customers to move in with minimal fuss, hassle, or requirement for any additional work. All this, surprisingly, is provided as part of the traditional package, and not an optional extra. Extending the focus on minimal fuss further, Bentier Homes also operates in a responsible way when considering community interaction. Regularly contacting local community representatives not simply before works commence, but also with regular updates if there may be any noise disruption or otherwise, Bentier Homes effectively makes sure that community representatives are engaged with and made fully aware of the works being performed on site. This not only helps in the area of health and safety when larger works are being performed, but also in easing community concerns and has proven very successful. This year, Bentier Homes has also been very successful with Site Manager, Tim Parker winning the Pride in the Job 2017 Award, affording clear recognition of the hard work and standards being maintained by both Parker and the wider company. “It’s a great award for us. It’s something we’ve been working on for some time. Just to be able to say we have a Pride in the Job Award is a great USP for the company, and on a personal note great for my C.V naturally! It’s all positives really,” commented Tim Parker, Site Manager at Bentier Homes. Although this is the first Pride in the Job Award won at Bentier Homes, Parker remains confident that this will be the first in a long line of awards thanks to an overhaul in the company’s organisational strategy, allowing for the company to better showcase excellence in awards such as these. But of course, beyond the change in organisation, the company has also been adamant in maintaining the driving factors behind the company’s renowned level of quality and attention to detail. Commenting on how this has been made possible, he continued: “It’s been key to make sure our trades are up to date and also fully understand all the relevant NHBC regulations. It’s also been about maintaining high standards and consistency of workmanship on site, while maintaining a good working relationship between our trades which is something I always encourage.’’ Of course, Bentier Homes has been with its trades the entire time in ensuring that standards are continually improving. On a day-to-day basis, the company strongly encourages its trades to take note of where challenges or issues may be arising so that they can do things differently next time, whilst on a longer-term basis the organisation also involves trades with constructive meetings and training on best-practices. The combination of these two elements has, of course, allowed for a continuous cycle in improved performance from both an efficiency and quality workmanship perspective. This has only been successful thanks to the level of passion which Bentier Homes’ trades put into their work, as well as their commitment to working closely together for the benefit of the customer. Indeed, the cooperation and collaboration between trades and management have been the driving force behind the success, as Parker clarifies: “It’s a massive team effort and although I am at the forefront of it, it’s about that teamwork really that ensures a great home is handed over.” Going forward, Bentier Homes looks to strengthen its relationship with the NHBC further. Having enjoyed the success of the first award, Parker is determined to win further awards with the NHBC and has a number of projects in the pipeline which it will be putting forward for such awards.
The Government has pledged to build 300,000 homes per year to solve the current housing shortage. However, in order to meet the demand for the new building projects, the UK construction industry needs an estimated 400,000 new workers every year until 2021. The shortfall has been blamed on failure to replace employees who have left the industry due to retirement or career change. Even though it seems like the new generation should take over the vacant positions, the youngsters no longer view construction as a desirable career choice. A survey conducted by the Construction Industry Training Board that asked a group of 14 to 19 year olds which careers interested them, found out that construction scored 4.2 out of 10, because young people see it as ‘being outdoors and getting dirty’. For this reason, the construction industry should start working on its image and rebuild the way the young generation sees it. A good start would be educating the workforce of tomorrow on the innumerable benefits of a construction based career. Training is also an option, particularly for those looking for an industry recognised qualification as an opportunity and career enhancer. The training academy of Baumit offers bronze, silver, and gold courses that can be tailored to suit individual or group needs. They are a practical experience with ‘real life’ challenges that can be encountered in the workplace. The silver and gold courses take place over two days, which gives candidates more time to absorb and reflect on the information and skills they’ve learnt. An extra thing the academy offers is support even after the course is finished. Those that complete the bronze to gold course journey will be equipped with an industry qualification and will become a Baumit approved partner, gaining access to a host of other benefits. Those wishing to pursue a career in construction should know that there has never been a better time to do it than it is now. The country needs people interested in the construction industry.
A research from Unispace, the global design firm, has revealed that the noise and distraction coming from open plan workplaces are preventing employees from focusing on tasks that require high levels of concentration and minimum disruption. The global study of working practices and workplace design included more than 11,000 workers. 15% of the respondents said that noise was the primary cause of inefficiency during working hours, a number that has risen by 4% in the last 12 months. Other factors included the lack of quiet areas (13%), the lack of privacy (9%), and the temperature and air quality in the office (7%). “Our research shows that the vast majority of our time at work is based on the need to ‘focus’ — more than 60% of the working day,” said Simon Pole, Unispace Global Director, Design. “The workplace has changed radically in the last few years, but it may have gone too far now. Collaboration is obviously a central tenet of many modern spaces and in this environment, creating a fusion of ideas and socialisation is key. But for the majority of everyday business tasks, workers need space for focus, calm and solitude.” The research also found that 60% of the average day is devoted to individual task focused work, while 25% was dedicated to collaboration and 7% to socialising. The participants indicated that even routine tasks, such as filing, creative work, and training, take up more time (10%) than collaborative tasks such as group meetings, presentations, and audio conferences. The most popular type of workspace (31%) is the open plan offices. “Open, collaborative work environments promised us increased employee performance, higher levels of productivity, happier employees and happier CFOs — as these environments were typically more efficient,” explained Albert De Plazaola, Unispace Global Principal, Strategy. However, there needs to be more thought put into how to elevate the experience of the employees, considering the type of jobs they do. “For example, progressive workplace designs for social media or tech companies may not be appropriate or culturally suitable for professional services firms. Similarly, napping pods and zen lounges may do wonders for overworked software engineers, but would miss the mark entirely if placed in the office of a conservative management consulting firm,” concluded De Plazaola.
