16.10.19

We’re up for four of the industry’s top awards

Awards season is upon us. 

The buzz around the Oscars is cranking up, with all eyes on Joaquin Phoenix and his starring role in Joker. Meanwhile, the Ballon D’or nominations have caught the attention of the footballing world, with many wondering whether Lionel Messi can reclaim his spot at the top. 

But goalscoring gods and crazed clowns aren’t the only ones winning plaudits.

We are delighted to announce that we have been shortlisted for four top industry awards.

It is a real honour to be recognised for the hard work that everyone at ilke Homes has put in since we launched, and we are grateful to be shortlisted for a wide variety of awards.

We have been shortlisted for:

  • The York Press 2019 Awards – Employer of the Year
  • The York Press 2019 Awards – New Business of the Year
  • Building Innovation Awards 2019 – Best Use of BIM
  • Inside Housing Development Awards 2019 – Best Approach to Modular Construction

We are particularly proud to have been nominated for the Employer of the Year having spent the last year working on a number of workforce initiatives. 

The ilke Academy, for example, is the UK’s first onsite Learning and Development facility for modular housing and will inspire the next generation of housebuilders, teaching recruits of all ages and from all walks of life valuable career skills.

One of our team members, Dean Lawman said that since arriving at ilke Homes and progressing through the ilke Academy, that his career has “truly begun”. 

“I know it’s a bit of a cliché, but every day is different and I always feel that I’ve learnt something new. Working within such an innovative and pioneering company is exciting, but it is the people that have made my time here so enjoyable,” he says.

The progress that we’ve made in the two short years since we launched has been immense. 

The ilke Academy is proof of our progress but also our future as we continue to grow across all levels of the business.

Being shortlisted for the New Business of the Year demonstrates how far we’ve come in such a short time. In the last year, we’ve grown our workforce to 300 people, 35% of which come from the Harrogate area that lays in close proximity to our factory.

Our strategic partnership with Places for People, the UK’s largest modular housing deal, has played a huge part in this, establishing us as a leader of offsite manufacturing.

Another huge part of our success lies in us harnessing precision manufacturing techniques. 

Shortlisted for Best Use of BIM by the Building Innovation Awards is proof of that. We use BIM (Building Information Modelling) across the business: in design, cost evaluation, project visualisation, planning and collaboration between departments, and of course in the manufacturing process itself. 

BIM underpins the business and to be shortlisted for an award that recognises its best application shows that we are innovating the industry. Digitalisation in manufacturing has been around for decades, but housebuilding has failed to modernise in the same way.

And BIM was at the heart of our work at Gateshead Innovation Village. We were tasked with delivering six zero-carbon homes, and through the innovative technology we employ we were able to co-ordinate the installation of new roof designs, heating and ventilation systems, and a reconfigured steel frame which had to be changed to compensate for bigger ventilation pipes to optimise the sustainability levels of each home.

Working alongside Home Group, one of the country’s biggest housing associations, to deliver these homes earned us both a nomination for the Inside Housing Development Awards 2019 in the Best Approach to Modular Construction category.

These nominations recognise the progress we’ve made these last two years as an employer, a business, and a tech and modular innovator.

We all have our fingers crossed that we can win these awards but we know that we are up against superb contenders, including some of the country’s biggest housebuilders. 

But we’re up to the challenge, and this is only the beginning of our journey.