2017 proved to be a very successful year for Fairgrove – with a number of key milestones for the company that demonstrated our continued growth and respected position as a reputable and quality housebuilder across the East Midlands.
Nurturing future industry talent is a core focus for the business, and we continued our commitment with the appointment of six new apprentices in the areas of bricklaying and joinery – offering them the chance to learn on-site from our experienced site managers, while gaining official qualifications that will lay the foundations for their future careers.
We also recruited 18-year old Management Trainee Apprentice Daniel Jones. Over the course of his apprenticeship, Daniel will be learning all aspects of the business by shadowing several members of the team in order to gain a rounded understanding of how we operate within our industry and, what makes us a unique and exciting business to work for. Alongside this, he will be working towards a Chartered Management Institute Degree at Derby University.
Our exciting re-development of the historic Kimberley Brewery site got underway, and we were privileged to have a site visit in August from Conservative MP for Broxtowe, Anna Soubry. We are committed to working with local authorities and groups, and our work at Kimberley has demonstrated our ability to work in partnership with Broxtowe Borough Council and Community Group Save Our Brewery (SOBs), in order to achieve an outcome that is in the best interests of the local community.
As a company we are dedicated to revitalising local areas – and our mixture of house types mean that a range of buyers looking for their dream home, whether they be upsizers, downsizers or first-time buyers, can make that move a reality with Fairgrove in the coming months and years.
As with Kimberley, Church View at Willington is also a brownfield site being re-developed, and significant interest has been shown in the new homes available with 4 of the first 20 plots already reserved off plan.
Reservation numbers reached record highs for the company in 2017, and we were able to secure a 5-year land supply of over 200 plots for future development – putting us in a strong position moving forwards.
We were encouraged to see that the buying process was made significantly easier for first-time buyers in the Autumn Budget, with the announcement by the government of the removal of Stamp Duty on properties worth up to £300,000. We welcomed this news because it opens doors for people that might have struggled financially to make the move into a new, dream home.
We hope that the positive steps in the Autumn budget help the housing market to flourish through 2018 and as a company, we look forward to what looks to be a very prosperous year ahead.
For more details about Fairgrove, visit www.fairgrove.co.uk.