In the largest recruitment drive registered in the construction industry for over a decade, Weston Homes Plc has announced that it is recruiting 350 new staff over the next 18-24 months. The volume housebuilder is undertaking a multi-million pound nationwide recruitment campaign, in order to have the human resources required to meet the company’s £2 billion (GDV) new homes development pipeline.
Established in 1987 with headquarter offices in London and Stansted, Weston Homes currently employs over 430 people, and has a development pipeline of 7,500 new homes, with a completed value of £2 billion. Due to this pipeline, the company is forecast to double in size over the next five years and needs to create 350 new roles across all disciplines within the business. This includes engineering, planning and design, technical, commercial and construction, and the company is looking for people with a variety of different experience levels.
In order to implement the recruitment drive Weston Homes is rolling out a massive recruitment campaign, unprecedented in the construction industry for its scale, cost and depth. Over the next six months the firm is undertaking a multi-million pound nationwide promotional campaign. This includes advertisements, recruitment videos, radio advertising, bus adverts, billboards, site hoardings, social media and Recruitment Fairs in Birmingham (September 2018), Manchester (October 2018) and Bristol (November 2018).
Weston Homes creates best in class residential property developments across outer London, the Home Counties and the South East, focusing on rapidly growing hubs including Cambridge, Peterborough, Reading and Dartford. The company has in-house divisions covering design, planning, manufacturing and construction.
Around a third of the 350 roles will be site-based roles, with the balance based at the company’s head office.
In November 2018, Weston Homes is scheduled to open a massive 75,000 sqft automotive-industry style Distribution Centre near its head office in Stansted. The firm has invested heavily in the multi-million complex, which has state-of-the-art computer-monitored warehousing, assembly lines, robots and wire-guided forklift trucks. Raw materials and parts are delivered to the centre and initially stored. Then the plant’s innovative production-line workshop assembles bathrooms, flooring, tiling and other home components before they are delivered to building sites. Circa 45 staff are required for this highly advanced and innovative complex, which will accelerate the company’s build-off-site programme, and bring “Jaguar motorcar” like precision and technology into the home building industry.
Bob Weston, Chairman & CEO of Weston Homes, says:
“Whilst Stamp Duty may have slowed the super-prime sector (homes priced above £10m) of the housing market, our core business, which focuses on starter and family homes for domestic purchasers is booming. Weston Homes has £297 million of forward sales and we have a 7,500 unit pipeline in order to keep up with demand. For homes priced from £300 to £800 per sqft, which is our operating area, the housing market is buoyant, with demand outstripping supply.”
One of the biggest challenges facing us and the wider construction industry at present is finding new staff, hence the huge recruitment drive and nationwide campaign we are rolling out over the coming months.”
Weston Homes has an enviable track record at employing and retaining good people, and offers a comprehensive list of employee benefits. These benefits include company car or car allowance (dependant on role), pension with up to 10% employer contribution level, private health care for employee, partner and dependants up to age 25, gymnasium access, subsidised staff restaurant and all-inclusive staff events (Annual Summer ball, sporting challenges, Family Fun day and bowling evening).
Employees can also benefit from enhanced maternity/paternity pay, retirement gratuity (10 years+ service), discounted home purchase and vouchers to celebrate weddings or civil partnerships (£500) and birth of a child (£250).
To assist the new recruitment campaign Weston Homes are offering existing employees a referral fee of up to £2,500 if they recommend a friend/contact to the company who is then successfully recruited. Given that there are 350 new roles, there is up to £875,000 available to staff who assist the business with the recruitment campaign.
Jane Stock, Human Resources Director at Weston Homes, says:
Alongside recruiting for these 350 roles our key focus is on developing, rewarding and challenging our people in order to retain them and help ensure they have fulfilling careers with Weston Homes.”
“In order to facilitate this, we are focused on developing our people internally. We currently have 35 staff employees on day release college or university courses. We have a dedicated Learning Academy with a full-time Learning and Development Consultant focused purely on developing our people. We offer a comprehensive range of internal development courses including leadership development, management development, together with a suite of personal effectiveness programmes including time management, conflict resolution and an introduction to coaching/mentoring.”
