Shelley West, group sales and marketing director at City & Country, reflects on the company’s experience as the outgoing Whathouse? Awards Housebuilder of the Year.
At City & Country, we are very proud to have won some impressive awards over the years – in fact, our head office shelves are positively groaning with them – but of the 16 national awards that we scooped in 2024, there’s no doubt that it was winning Housebuilder of the Year at the WhatHouse? Awards which generated the most excitement in our offices and out on site.
We have been gaining ground on this most prestigious of awards for several years – two Gold Awards in 2021, a Gold, Silver and two Bronze awards in 2022 and, in 2023, a Silver in Best Medium Housebuilder plus six other awards. So, you can imagine that it was an incredible reward for everyone’s hard work to win Best Medium Housebuilder in 2024 and then go on to be chosen for the overall top award.
The “Best Housebuilder” categories are one of the most competitive of the WhatHouse? Awards to enter and to win, as they don’t just cover the quality of a single project but weigh up every aspect of a developer’s performance. Entries are judged not just on the obvious – the quality, design and range of houses – but on a company’s core values. Recruitment, staff training, social impact, sustainability and customer care are all put under the microscope, so putting an entry into this category requires a slightly daunting level of introspection.
The fact that it’s such an accolade to win makes it all the more valuable – and there’s no doubt about the level of kudos that WhatHouse? Awards represent. Winners get more than just a trophy; they receive a level of publicity and reputational advancement that makes a real difference, both in terms of a company’s standing within the industry and in attracting customers who care about where they choose to put their trust and their cash. For us, it was official recognition that we are truly an industry leader, and something that we are now thoroughly proud of.
In awarding us Housebuilder of the Year, the judges recognised the considerable shift that City & Country has made in recent years from predominantly restoring and converting historic and listed buildings to building around three-quarters of our properties from scratch. One of very few developers to have an in-house team of architects designing our new homes, our passion is to fill a market-leading niche for creating sympathetic new properties around heritage assets, combining traditional craft skills with sustainable construction practices, including the careful use of timber frames.
We have also expanded beyond our home county of Essex, where City & Country began more than 60 years ago, into London, the South East and the South West, gradually establishing a national presence and taking on larger and more complex mixed-use schemes. Our breadth is extensive – over the past year we have launched 200 new build two to five-bedroom homes in the grounds of the ancient St Osyth Priory near Colchester, launched our flagship Bath Press development of apartments and townhouses on the former Pitman Press site in Bath – including restoring and retaining the façade of the 19th Century building – and created The King’s Collection of apartments at King Edward VII Estate in Midhurst.
I believe that our company’s success is a reflection of the hardworking spirit and ethos of our staff, departments and teams. Every member of our organisation shares a commitment to quality and innovation, which enables City & Country to consistently deliver exceptional homes. This passion and hard work across all levels, from site and sales teams to senior leadership, is crucial to driving excellence and, therefore, is fundamental to our success.
One of the most exciting things about the WhatHouse? Awards is that we genuinely didn’t have a clue that we would be going home with the accolade, which made the whole event extra special. It’s a truly special award to be part of, so make sure you don’t miss out.
