We’ve been speaking to some of our site team members to find out more about their roles and this month we spoke to Thonock Vale management duo, Pete Hodgins and Harrison Haigh.
Site manager Pete has been with Beal for over five years, and has recently been helping to train our assistant site manager, Harrison.
Q) Tell us about your roles at Beal – what does a typical day look like?
Pete: The role of the site manager is to be the link between the office and the teams working on the ground.
We usually have between 30-50 people working on site and my role is to ensure that everyone has everything they need, and that the programme of works is running smoothly and on time.
Regulations in the construction industry are constantly evolving, and there are lots of new protocols, especially around sustainability, so I’m also constantly learning and adapting.
Harrison: Pete is often in meetings and dealing with paperwork and admin, so my job is to be on the site preparing for National House Builders Council (NHBC) inspections and checking the work done by each trade is carried out to Beal’s exceptional standards.
The role involves a lot of people management and requires you to have good interpersonal skills.
Q) Tell us about your background and how you got into the role you now have?
Pete: I have been working in construction for over 25 years after completing a joinery apprenticeship when I left school.
I worked for two other companies in the construction industry before moving to Beal Homes in 2018, when I started as an assistant site manager at the Fruit Market development in Hull.
Harrison: I always knew I wanted to go into the construction industry but I didn’t really know what options were available to me. I assumed I’d have to go down the route of learning a trade.
I met the team from Beal at a careers fair at the sixth form where I was studying for my A-Levels and passed my CV onto them.
I had a meeting with Beal’s Construction Director, Andy Devine, who told me about the Level 4 HTQ Construction Site Supervisor Apprenticeship, which would involve attending a building college one day per week, whilst also working on site with Beal to gain hands on experience.
It was the perfect way for me to take my first steps into the construction industry, gaining both practical experience on site and the theoretical knowledge at college.
Q) What attracted you to join Beal Homes?
Pete: I enjoy learning and wanted to continue developing in my career, and Beal really supports its employees to do that. The clear career path and progression opportunities offered at Beal were a really big bonus for me.
I also knew a few people who worked for Beal and spoke really highly of the business, so I was confident that I was joining a company that was reputable for both the quality of its homes and looking after its employees.
Harrison: Growing up in Hull, everyone knows who Beal are, and they have a very good reputation locally.
I’d seen the impressive head office in Hessle as well as the high quality of Beal developments and knew it was a company I wanted to work for.
Q) What do you enjoy most about your job?
Pete: I love the camaraderie and the banter between the team. Everyone has different personalities and backgrounds, and I really enjoy getting to meet a wide range of people.
It’s also really rewarding seeing the fruits of all the hard work the team has put in. Seeing the site go from a bare field, to a beautiful new community with high-quality homes, brings me so much pride.
Harrison: Seeing people moving into their dream home and knowing we’ve been able to make that a reality for them is really rewarding.
Q) How have you helped each other progress in your roles?
Pete: My goal for Harrison is to see him managing his own site one day. I’ve been really keen to give him a range of hands-on experience so he can learn on the job and develop problem solving skills.
Outside of work I’m a boxing coach, and I’ve been able to transfer my coaching skills into helping Harrison progress and learn on site.
Harrison has helped me too though, he’s a bit of a whizz on Microsoft publisher!
Harrison: Pete has helped me gain invaluable, hands-on skills. Thanks to his help I feel really competent and confident in tackling anything that comes up on site.
Doing an apprenticeship and working with Pete has helped me develop so many extra skills and gain so much more experience than I would have done if I’d taken a different route in my career.
Quick-fire Questions
Q) You can invite three people – dead or alive – to a dinner party. Who’s at the table?
Pete: Comedian Kevin Bridges; boxing coach Anatoliyovych Lomachenko, the father and coach of Vasyl Lomachenko, I’d love to pick his brains on coaching such an elite boxer; and Donald Trump because I think he would be controversial!
Harrison: I’m a huge football fan and have played football all my life, so I’d have to pick one of my favourite footballers, Lionel Messi. I’d also say John Lennon from The Beatles and the comedian Ricky Gervais.
Q) Favourite TV show?
Pete: Line of Duty
Harrison: Game of Thrones (but only up to season six!)
Q) What’s the best place you’ve been on holiday?
Pete: We did a safari in Kenya and got to see the big five which was an amazing experience.
Harrison: The Greek island of Paros isn’t as touristy as other places I’ve been to. It was very traditionally Greek, so I enjoyed seeing their culture.
Q) If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
Pete: To fly.
Harrison: I’d also say to fly!