When Lorne Clarke left school aged 17 with just one C grade to his name, his prospects did not seem too bright.
Yet 14 years on, the National House Building Council (NHBC) has named the Redrow employee the best site manager in the South West region, adding to the string of accolades that accompany his career.
Clarke was chosen as regional winner of the NHBC Pride in the Job Quality Awards and is now in the running to become the UK supreme winner. His Redrow South West colleague, Jamie Rogerson, was honoured with a Seal of Excellence.
They were among five managers from Redrow South West who were awarded Pride in the Job Quality Awards in the South West earlier last month.
Lorne and Jamie along with Andy Baxter, Matthew Crook and Gary Thomas were part of an elite group of just 430 site managers nationwide, from a potential pool of 16,000, to receive the accolade, which rewards site managers who achieve the highest standards in house building.
Judging for the awards began 12 months ago and includes spot checks of the day-to-day running of the sites as well as assessment across 38 areas of site management. The judges look at each manager’s technical knowledge, consistency in the build process, leadership and organisational skills.
A total of 40 site managers across the South West achieved the Pride in the Job Quality Award, from which 13 were awarded a Seal of Excellence. One site manager is then picked from the final 13 as the regional winner to compete in the national contest.
Lorne, who worked as a bricklayer for nine years before climbing the ranks in site management, won his first award as a site manager in 2009.
“My contract manager at the time told me it would be the first of many,” said Lorne, who studied for two years at Swindon College to earn his NVQ in brickwork.
Lee Hawker, managing director at Redrow South West, said: “We would like to congratulate Lorne on this fantastic achievement and wish him loads of luck for the next stage.
“We’re very proud of all our award-winning site managers and delighted that a record number of them have been recognised by the NHBC.
“The NHBC has a rigorous judging process and only the best in the business receive the Quality awards.
“For us as a company, it provides further evidence that we’re producing a quality product by achieving award winning standards of construction.”