Our people are at the heart of everything we do. As a family-owned business since 1968, our talented, creative team is dedicated to making sure our customers experience what we call the “Beal Difference.”

We work closely with every one of our buyers to help them choose and design a home which is perfect for their lifestyle and needs.

Our Design Lounge lets you customise your home to your tastes, and choose from an extensive range of fixtures and finishes. Central to that service is our expert team of designers.

Each month we ask a different member of the Beal team five questions about who they are, how they joined us, what they do and what they most enjoy about working for Beal.

This month, we catch up with Sarah Bonnett, Selections Design Consultant.

Tell us about your job and what’s the best thing about it.

I’m a Design Consultant within the Customer Selections team. It’s our job to help buyers make their new home truly theirs.

I help buyers realise their kitchen dreams, creating bespoke designs and 3D images, and then co-ordinating with our kitchen supplier and installers to make sure everything goes smoothly ahead of the moving in day.

Over the last year, our team has also been heavily involved in the new Beal Homes HQ and expanded Design Lounge, preparing for the major changes to our customer offering.

One of the best things about my job is helping buyers design their own dream home, and making the process as smooth as possible for everyone involved.

It will be a proud achievement when we see all of it come together in our new HQ.

What attracted you to join Beal Homes?

I previously worked for a national kitchen manufacturer who started to supply top-quality kitchens to Beal Homes a few years ago.

In that role, I worked with dozens of small to national-sized housebuilders for over a decade. It gave me a great insight into the housebuilding industry so when Beal Homes became a customer, I knew immediately that there truly was a ‘Beal Difference.’

The above and beyond creative freedom given to every customer that buys a Beal Homes is unique.

I was attracted by the family business vibe that I would feel whenever I met with the Beal team, and I’m delighted to now call them my colleagues.

What is your favourite Beal development and house type and why?

I think it would have to be Thonock Vale in Gainsborough. Standing on what is locally known as Castle Hills, overlooking the Trent valley, this one’s a very personal one to me.

Not only am I originally a Gainsborough lass, and it’s great to see lots of development and investment going on across my home town, but our new site is also where my secondary school once stood. Thankfully, it’s worlds away from freezing cold classrooms and prefect badges!

My favourite house type is the Butterwick, with the garage conversion. It creates a lovely living space at the back of the house with a snug area to chill away from the lounge at the front.

I’m also a sucker for a sloped roof and dormer window so would have to claim the third bedroom as my own.

What do you do to relax away from work?

I like to keep the creativity going at home. I go through phases of how to express it, whether that be drawing and mindful doodling, out in the garden, trying a bit of upcycling, or going to see other peoples’ work at galleries and craft fairs.

I’ve always been fascinated by history and architecture. There’s been plenty of visits to museums and castles over the years and I’ve recently started watching a YouTube series all about the history of Hull.

I also enjoy a good Netflix binge, catching up with friends and the very occasional and entirely responsible tipple!

Tell us something about yourself that your Beal colleagues don’t know.

A few people know I chose to relocate from Gainsborough to buy my first house in this area. However, most don’t know how that started.

I got invited out on a first date in Hull way back in 2014. After being wined and dined in the Old Town, toured around the Marina and the Ferens gallery, a love affair started that night. It just wasn’t the one I thought I was signing up for!

After that I started exploring this area more and more and eventually became a Hull City of Culture volunteer in 2017. I completed around 150 hours of volunteering and training throughout 2017/18.

It was truly an honour to be involved in and I finally made the move to the north bank in 2018 to start building a life here properly.