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Veteran builder delivering quality homes at Botley calls on young people to join industry

- 13 Sep 19

An assistant site manager in Botley, with more than 33 years’ building experience at a national housebuilder, is calling for more young people to join the industry.

Mark Schillemore, who works at Bovis Homes’ Boorley Park location, left school at 16 to become a ground worker and has spent the majority of his career in Hampshire.

The former forklift driver said he was proud of the quality of homes at Boorley Park, which has just launched two show homes from Bovis Homes’ new collection.

Mark, who has lived in Godshill all his life, said: “There’s a great satisfaction in building nice houses. There’s not enough young people in the trade at the moment and a lot more people need to come into the industry. It’s a great atmosphere, you are your own boss in some respects.

“I love producing a product that I can be proud of and that’s why it’s great working for Bovis Homes. We are working on properties from our new range, but the current portfolio is still impressive as well.

“Customers love the layout, space and light of the homes here. I love the reaction from customers when they get the keys to their new homes.

“Young people can get the chance to experience all of this, if they work hard, learn different trades and get the right skills and training. They’re the future of the housing industry. They just need the support from managers and to learn that everything is about the customer and the quality.”

Mark has benefited from Bovis Homes’ own trainee management programme, and worked closely with contractors to gain experience in different areas of the business. He helps deliver home demonstrations to customers, walking them through their property after they receive their keys, so they get an understanding of how everything works.

Mark’s son has followed in his footsteps and works as a full-time labourer with ambitions to move into site management like his dad.

Mark said he was confident his son would make it. “Those that have the right attitude and commitment and are curious about all the different parts of the job will make it,” he said. “We work as a team here, it feels like a family and there is a great relationship between the sales and build team.”

He also had nothing but praise for the village in which he has been working. “Botley is a lovely village, there are great local amenities, a train station, an infant school that has just opened and a football pavilion with five pitches, it’s a very attractive area,” he said.

Mark first joined Bovis Homes in 1982 and liked it so much, he returned to the company in 1994. He has worked on more than ten locations in and around Hampshire.

Bovis Homes is holding a Back to School incentive weekend at Boorley Park on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd September. Families needing more space in their home can visit and talk to the housebuilder's dedicated sales team. Those who reserve a property this weekend can get their stamp duty paid.

Bovis Homes’ new collection, which includes two to five-bedroom homes, are named after British trees and focus on well-proportioned exteriors with a real sense of light and flow on the inside.