Bellway Homes’ first female Pride in the Job winner Jazele Parys
“It’s an overwhelming feeling – I’m delighted!”
From a field of more than 10,000, 450 site managers have won a Quality Award in the first round of NHBC’s Pride in the Job Awards 2021. This represents the top 5% of those who entered and is testament to their commitment to deliver quality homes for their customers.
Pride in the Job, first launched over forty years ago, is the most highly regarded competition in the house-building industry. Judging for the Awards is rigorous, with the current competition beginning in July 2020 and each site manager assessed across six key areas: consistency, attention to detail, leadership, interpretation of drawings and specifications, technical expertise, and health and safety.
We spoke with Bellway Homes’ (Thames Gateway) Jazele Parys on what it means to win her first Pride in the Job award – becoming Bellway’s first ever PIJ female winner in the process – for her work at the Eastside Quarters site in Bexleyheath.
“I’ve worked as a site manager at Bellway for the last six years and this is the first time I’ve won a Pride in the Job Quality Award. I have worked in teams that have been managed by Pride in the Job winners, so I know how much it means to people in the industry. At first I was in a state of shock but once it sank in it was overwhelming. To be Bellway’s first female PIJ winner makes it even more special.
“It has been an amazing journey. Since I started working in construction, I have always been given the same level of respect as my male colleagues.
“When I first joined Bellway, there were only one or two site managers who were female, but now the barriers have been lifted and more is being done to tackle that.”
The 32-year old, who is currently on maternity leave expecting her first child in September, added: “It has been quite the year, following the pandemic and lockdown, returning to site and now awaiting our little bundle. I can’t wait to celebrate with the team at the South East regional awards in October, where we can hopefully all be together once more.”
John Haggerstone, Construction Director for Bellway Thames Gateway, said:
“To be recognised by NHBC is the biggest accolade you could achieve as a site manager – and to break the glass ceiling by becoming the first woman in company history to do so is a brilliant achievement for Jazele. We congratulate her and her team on receiving a Quality Award.”
Pride in the Job is at the heart of NHBC’s core purpose to support the delivery of high-quality new homes. By recognising the very best site managers across the UK, the competition celebrates the vital role that site managers play in ensuring new homes are delivered on time, on safe sites and to exacting construction quality standards.
The competition has three categories for different sized businesses: small, medium and large house builders, plus a multi-storey category for site managers working on projects of five storeys or more.
The Quality Award winners will go on to compete for Seal of Excellence and Regional Awards in the autumn with the national, Supreme Award winners unveiled in January 2022.