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3 October 2002
At the Building Homes Quality Awards 2002 Countryside Properties won two prestigious awards for the 'Best Health and Safety Approach' and the 'Best Quality Improvement Strategy'. The latter award was won by Greenwich Millennium Village, the Group's innovative joint venture project with Taylor Woodrow Capital Developments.
The awards which were held on 1st October at the Grosvenor House Hotel, in London, recognise excellence in housing providers' business performance and their ability to rise to the challenges set by the Government, customers and Egan's Rethinking Construction agenda.
These awards are recognition of our ability to meet the challenges and our total commitment to innovative, responsible development
Graham Cherry, CEO, Countryside Properties
Graham Cherry, Chief Executive of Countryside Properties comments, "The development industry is undergoing significant change which is presenting a challenge with enormous opportunity for those with the appropriate skills and abilities. These awards are recognition of our ability to meet these challenges and our total commitment to innovative, responsible development."
In reviewing the health and safety award, the judges said, "When Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott challenged the building industry to improve its health and safety record at last year's Construction Safety Summit, Countryside Properties took the message to heart. It has adopted Prescott's target of an annual 10% reduction in reportable accidents, achieving it last year and being on target to meet it again this year. Clear key performance indicators and an integrated approach won Countryside Properties this prize. We are not alone in being impressed by Countryside's strategy – the Group has also excelled in external audits by bodies such as the British Safety Council who gave the Company a five-star award."
Regarding Greenwich Millennium Village's (GMV's) 'Best Quality Improvement Strategy' award the judges commented, "A dedication to improving quality on a large scale and on a project using innovative technology won GMV this category. For all 1,377 homes being built on the site, quality is rigorously measured and assessed as the developer moves towards its ultimate quality objective, the housebuilding industry holy grail of zero defects. Through this ongoing measurement, the developers have already reduced defects at completion by 40%. A customer care team with a computer–based records system is now operating on site, to record customer issues for analysis to inform the design and construction process further. At GMV the quality improvement process is continuous." Countryside Properties was also short-listed in the Best Company-wide Sustainability Strategy category and the Private Sector Housebuilder of the Year category. Last year at the first Building Homes Quality Awards the Group won the 'Best Training / People Development' award.
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Information correct as at 03/10/2002