A winning night at the Stamford Mercury Business Awards

We had a great night at the Stamford Mercury Business Awards last week. The bubbly was flowing and, as well as enjoying a gala night out, we walked away with the award for Business of the Year. Get in!

We can add this to our recent major industry awards for technology, quality and environmental performance – including two ‘housebuilder of the year’ titles.

Classical guitarist Steve Bean entertained us all before the presentation of the Mercury Business Awards 2017, which were hosted for the first time by Rutland Radio breakfast presenter Rob Persani.

Larkfleet Homes was nominated because we have an enviable reputation for producing high quality, new homes in sustainable developments. We use innovative technology and construction methods to deliver new homes which exceed customers' expectations.

The judges decided that we are a worthy recipient of the award because we have substantially increased sales in the past year.

We have also expanded. Allison Homes has been developed as a separate company, with Larkfleet Homes concentrating on timber-framed houses and Allison Homes on conventional brick-and-block construction.

Not only that, we have opened new house building companies under the Larkfleet brand in the South West of England, Scotland and Norfolk & Suffolk. We have already built and sold homes in Scotland and Somerset. We are actively building on two sites in the South West, and discussions about planning consents for significant new developments in Norfolk and Scotland are ongoing.

It’s not just about housebuilding. We have launched major new R&D initiatives including an ‘elevating house’ that can rise above flood waters – which will therefore permit development on flood plains – and a ‘grid neutral’ house which will generate as much electricity as it uses.

On top of all these business initiatives the judges also thought that our contributions to the community were equally important.

One of the most significant of these has been the opening of the Greater Peterborough University Technical College (GPUTC) – of which we are one of three ‘employer sponsors’. We have been involved with the project since its inception and support the college with cash, contributions in kind and staff time.

We are also a major contributor to local charities and support local schools with time, cash and teaching. There has also been the launch of the Larkfleet Community Fund which gives money to support community development in areas where Larkfleet Homes or Allison Homes are building new houses.

We're not going to rest on our laurels though. Larkfleet Homes has ambitious plans that should see us win some more trophies for the cabinet over the coming months and years.