Long service - Hills Group

HILLS HOMESOn top of the worldin HighworthProfile on…Jan Pearce,Site ManagerThe attractions of livingin a small market townsurrounded by superbopen countryside arenot lost on the peopleof Highworth. The townsits on the top of a hilland looks down on theupper reaches of theThames to theCotswolds and backtowards the BerkshireDowns and the Vale ofthe White Horse.Stylish bedrooms in the show homeThe showhome isopen daily from:11.00amto 3.00pmHills’ latest development, Garden Court, is just a stone’s throw away from the town’s picturesqueHigh Street and brings this idyllic form of living within reach of buyers. Prices start at £140,000 forone bedroom apartments and rise to £295,000 for three/four bedroom homes.“As might be expected, this mix of one bedroom apartments and three or three/four bedroom homesfrom Hills brings a good quality and specification right across the range of sizes on offer,” saidRosemary Seward, new homes specialist at Dreweatt Neate. “Garden Court could hardly be betterplaced for convenient living and each home will provide flexible and well planned accommodation.”Sensible use of space means these homes are great to live in – even the one bedroom apartmentshave well proportioned rooms. The three bedroom house have an L-shape living/dining room withFrench doors into the garden and stylish turning staircases that make minimum intrusion. Naturally,the master bedrooms in these houses have an en-suite to complement the main family bathroom.The three/four bedroom homes have rooms arranged across three levels, with the top floor occupiedby a bedroom with en-suite adjacent to a study/fourth bedroom that would make an ideal space fora nursery or younger child. The first floor has two bedrooms which, like the master, have wardrobesand there’s also a family bathroom. The ground floor has separate living and kitchen/dining rooms.All the properties have integrated single or double ovens with a gas hob as well as integratedfridge/freezer, dishwasher, and washer/dryer – all of them from Bosch and A rated, which is typicalof Hills’ quality approach.Similarly, the bathrooms have sanitary ware from Villeroy and Boch while someplots also have natural stone external detailing to windows. There isallocated parking for all the properties,plus visitor spaces, mains poweredsmoke detectors, high efficiencygas boilers, and, a 10 yearNHBC guarantee.Part of thecompleteddevelopmentat GardenCourtJan is our longest serving site manager, joining Olivemead Developments in June 1996 whichwent on to become part of Hills Property Limited in January 1998.Since joining the company Jan has completed many training courses, the latest being theNational Certificate in Construction Health and Safety awarded by the National ExaminationBoard in Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH) for which he received a credit pass. Thecourse is designed to train high level managers to proactively ensure steps are taken toinitiate good practices in health and safety and to protect employees and the public. Hebelieves it’s important to keep his skills base up to date, and in the future hopes to widenthis with more IT and project management training.Jan lives in Devizes with his ‘long-suffering’ wife, Deborah and two sons, Ben and Peterwho are now 17 and 15. Their last holiday was in Newquay where the family went surfing,this summer holiday was not quite so much fun – a busman’s holiday building an extensionon his house!Keeping upwith Louise“I can be fairly determined once I set my mind on something,” says Louise and shecertainly proved this to be the case in the last couple of months.Louise, who works as an account assistant in the Homes division, recently completedher Institute of Certified Bookkeepers Level II (intermediate) Certificate in ManualBookkeeping and achieved a pass mark of 99%. “I was very pleased as I am doing it tohelp me with my job and am now attempting Level III.”Her achievements extend past the workplace and Louise applies the samedetermination to her road running ‘hobby’. “I prepared for the Cricklade halfmarathon in October by following a training schedule I pulled out of the Runners’World magazine. The weather conditions on the day were good for running anddespite having to drag my tired legs round the last 3 miles, I did a personal best of1hr51min.”However, Louise’s next race, the Avebury8 off road trail, proved to be an even biggerchallenge with treacherous conditions underfoot. “It was very slippery and wet and Icould not get a firm footing anywhere,” she said. Louise laughed as she recalled theevent, “Two miles into the race Ifell off a ridge and landed headfirst,face down and completelysubmerged in a mud pool.Fortunately I believe that mud isgood for the skin!” Drenched andlooking very bedraggled, shecame home in 1hr21min andfinished 77 out of 104.We are sure you will join us inwishing Louise everything of thebest with her future studies andbetter weather for her next race!WelcomeLynda Duggan, PA to the DMD forProperty, joins Hills from localestate agent Humberts where, forthe past 6 years, she worked as anegotiator and it is this first handexperience in selling property thatshe brings to the department.Her previous experience includesmarketing and PR and Lynda alsostill runs her own business licensinga well-known toy brand. Lynda haslived in Wiltshire for the past 7years, moving here from Buckinghamshireand settled in the PewseyVale in search of a quiet life – shehasn’t found it yet!10 intouch intouch 11