We caught up with Lyam Gunner, Deputy Project Manager at St James / St William Group after Pride in the Job 2024. We asked him about his Supreme Award win for the high-rise builder category and to learn about his journey in house building.
Getting started in construction
Lyam began his career in construction at just 17 years old. After leaving school to support his family he went to college and trained to become an electrician, running his own business for a few years before joining Taylor Wimpey. It was here that he enquired about getting into management and became their first apprentice site manager at just 21, moving on to become an Assistant Site Manager two years later and full Site Manager a year after that, with another promotion in 2018 to Senior Site Manager. In 2020 he joined St James / St William Group as a Senior Site Manager.
Building a rewarding career
We asked Lyam about the rewarding aspects of his role and what he enjoys most about being in construction. Like many others in the industry he discussed the satisfaction of creating something and the pride you feel when you pass projects you were involved in and can think ‘I built that’.
He added “I think one of the most enjoyable aspects of being on site is working together as a team of professionals. I have always liked people management and getting the chance to understand what they do. If I had one bit of advice for someone new to site management it would be to ask contractors about what they do and how they work – if you take the time to get to know people you will always get the best out of them.”
Securing quality
Creating high-quality homes is a long process, starting with considered design implemented by a focussed and aligned team. The Pride in the Job judges noted the positive and focused attitude Lyam fostered on site as well as the careful manual handling of the high-specification materials.
Lyam explained “Not only were we working to a really ambitious design, we created an environment that supported teamwork from the get-go. With 500 operatives, 526 units to deliver and 22 site managers working across the project it was imperative to me that we all pulled together and supported each other so that we could make consistent progress and protect both materials and areas of completed work to maintain quality.”
Winning at Pride in the Job
Winning at Pride in the Job takes a lot of hard work and dedication, with winners and runners up representing excellence within the house-building industry. This is why many winners, like Lyam, have won on more than one occasion across different sites.
Lyam said “I am proud to have won at the Supremes, the timing of the win was perfect as we were nearing the completion of the phase. It was a phenomenal feeling and meant we finished on a high. I will also never forget winning my first award. I think this kind of recognition from the industry really validates what you do and the effort the whole team puts in. I don’t think you can win something like this, especially for different sites or at different companies, unless you really care about what you deliver.”
Looking to the future
After this well-deserved win we asked Lyam what was next for him and his team.
He said “I’m thrilled to have won a Pride in the Job Supreme Award and I want others to be able to have that experience. For me it’s important that my win can inspire other people and give them the chance to go on this fantastic journey too. A way I try to drive quality and get more experience for people is to encourage new members of the team to ask for input from building inspectors; the great thing about construction is there is always something more to learn and ways to improve and I think Pride in the Job helps support that and recognise the immense impact of site teams.”
