Stonebond

You recently won a Quality Recognition Award for the outstanding standard of your sites. These high standards are clearly a key fact of what Stonebond stands for. Can you tell us how crucial you feel it is to continue pushing this bar even higher for both the industry and your customers?

We all know how tough the market has become over the past 6-9 months with increased mortgage rates and the Help to Buy scheme now redundant, so we must ensure that standards are consistently being raised across the business to make Stonebond stand out from our competitors.
Two of the business’ KPIs are quality control and customer aftercare which is not just crucial to maintain our 5-star status but also to review feedback and see how we can further improve as a business.

As a business we hold department BIGs (Business Improvement Groups) chaired by the Regional Construction Directors where we discuss current and new ideas to continuously improve the business collectively. We are developing several quality control measurements to implement across the business, including a QA system, Quality Manual, H&S Manual and Protection Manual, which will further raise standards.

Most importantly, this will create a culture of consistency from site-to-site.

Teamwork and collaboration in the build process is, among many other values, what sets Stonebond apart. How important do you believe this cooperation is in achieving the perfect home for your customers?

Teamwork is the key to success. It creates a fantastic working environment which encourages ongoing collaboration and communication between each team to ensure the build is executed as efficiently as possible.

Stonebond encourage a great team ethic which is discussed regularly on our quarterly board updates to the entire business. Attracting likeminded individuals in the recruitment process is a key part of the business model to ensure this collaboration is maintained.

Teamwork not only plays a crucial role in delivering a quality product, but it’s also crucial in the way the house is designed for customers’ needs and ensuring designs are reviewed to keep up with current trends, this feedback is priceless.

You clearly treat each project with unique care and passion, valuing the relationships that help the build process along. Where did Premier Guarantee fit in this journey and what was your experience collaborating with them like – from pre-construction right through to completion?

Our journey with Premier Guarantee has been fantastic!

Having PG so involved at the early stages of the technical design process is crucial to helping our commercial team start the procurement process.

Our PG site inspectors Peter Cleland (Wintringham Park) and Anthony Buckle (Flitton), have been fantastic and so accommodating to our site team from the pre-start meetings, daily inspections and buildability advice where needed.

The CML stage is a smooth process, the inspections are thorough and site conditions are cleared promptly to ensure the certification can be issued on the day of inspection.

How did this experience compare to your experience with other warranty providers?

Here at Stonebond we have always chosen Premier Guarantee as our warranty provider and will continue to do so given the service we have received to date.

The structure of how the business is set up means it is easy for developers to speak to the right individuals when needed. I have used other warranty providers in previous companies and this was a consistent issue.

Can you tell us about the Wintringham project? Where there any particular challenges that you faced and overcame?

The project started in October 2022 and it consists of 127 homes ranging from 1-2 bedroom apartments to five bedroom houses, all built using traditional construction methods.

The site has progressed smoothly with only a few minor house type design changes along the way, which is to be expected.

It is great to see these house types being put into production for the first time. We have individual house type RFI trackers which are used to analyse obstacles we come across, and this data is then fed back to the architect to amend for future sites, ensuring issues do not reoccur - a vital part of the standard house type range.

Our show homes are due to launch in July 2023 and we are very excited to showcase our new house type range.

Regulatory change is an ongoing aspect of the new homes industry. How are Stonebond dealing with these and has your collaboration with Premier Guarantee helped with learning and dealing with new regulations?

There are various new regulations including Part L, Part O, Part F, and we have been collaborating with Premier Guarantee regarding specific requirements before the design stage, so these can be incorporated from the start.

We are currently creating documentation to comply with Part L, so all text and photographic data can be captured throughout the build. This is part of our new paperless documentation on site using tablets and smart phone devices.

Stonebond continue to go from strength to strength. What does the future hold and what challenges do you look forward to overcoming?

It is an exciting time to be at Stonebond; the business is steadily expanding having started with one region initially, to now having six live regions which clearly shows the ambition and growth plan for the business.

Current market conditions mean that we must be very diligent with the land we buy, obtaining planning consent on site and choosing the right partners to work with.

Stonebond has a ‘sustainability commitment’. Are you able to tell us more about this?

We recently committed to achieving neutral carbon emissions across Scope 1 and Scope 2 sources. This applies to our site offices and our regional offices.

As a business, we are absolutely committed to reducing our carbon footprint and we regularly review and analyse latest technologies that can enable us to do this.

We believe having a clear direction, through our approach to sustainability, the environment, and accountability within all levels of our organisation is crucial to embedding sustainability at the heart of what we do.

What do you love most about your job/role?

I love being creative and always challenging myself to improve standards and driving the company to the next level.

Stonebond has been very accommodating of new ideas and implementing some of these across the business. This mindset is so encouraging and it enables me to keep trialling new ways to improve, knowing I am being backed by the business.

Would you recommend Premier Guarantee to others?

I would absolutely recommend Premier Guarantee to other businesses looking for a warranty provider or looking to switch warranty provider. The service we have received to date has been outstanding.