ADAM ACES BEING A SITE MANAGER FOR ELAN

AFTER spending half of his life working in the housebuilding industry, Adam Labno has another notch to his tool belt – being named Northern Site Manager of the Year by Elan Homes.

Adam joined Cheshire-based Elan Homes as an assistant site manager in early 2017 and was promoted to site manager the following year. He’s currently overseeing work at St Catherine’s Gardens in Lowton.

“It’s great to receive the recognition for the hard work I’ve put in, particularly in such a difficult year with construction having been suspended and COVID measures being introduced,” Adam says.

“Social distancing has put an emphasis on tight planning as we can’t have people working in the same plots together, but we still have targets to meet to ensure homes are built on time.”

Adam now 34 has worked in the housebuilding industry for over 17 years – half of his life!

“I’ve worked in the housing industry in various roles. I completed a management training scheme with a national housebuilder. I went to college and gained a HNC in construction management and was promoted to assistant site manager,” Adam, from Bebington, Wirral, says.

“I liked the idea of working for Elan Homes as I knew about the background of the company. Because Elan is a niche developer there’s a more personal feel to the business and you get to speak to people who are in more senior roles than you would in a larger company. I feel part of the company, not just someone working on site. There’s something for everyone within Elan and lots of opportunities to progress, you just need to be open minded and explore the different roles.”

Adam is experienced in managing a range of construction sites, overseeing delivery of schemes from 12 to 156 properties.

At St Catherine’s Gardens, Adam oversees 20-30 people on site a day. Launched less than a year ago, all 26 homes at St Catherine’s Gardens have now been reserved.

“Site management is about being approachable and a people person,” Adam says. “Building homes is a people business and how you speak to the team on site is important. You need to be a communicator first of all, the technical knowledge you can pick up in time.”

Paul Halliwell, managing director for Elan Homes in the North, says: “The entire Elan team has shown great resilience in their response to the challenges of the past year. Site managers in particular deserve special recognition for how they’ve adapted to ensure that construction teams have been able to work in a COVID secure environment while also maintaining the high standards we and our homeowners expect and delivering homes on time and within budget.”

Peter Crowney, construction director for Elan Homes, adds: “Adam is a hardworking and dedicated member of the team. His work ethic, commitment and communication gave him the edge and made him a worthy recipient of the site manager of the year title during an exceptional year. Homeowners at St Catherine’s Gardens should be reassured that construction of their new homes has been overseen by an experienced site manager with exacting standards.”

For more information about Elan homes, including where the company is building and career opportunities, see www.elan-homes.co.uk.