Housebuilder October 2018

THE
INTERVIEW Stephen Teagle, Galliford Try Partnerships
Diversity
To achieve sustained growth at pace, Galliford Try
Partnerships is seeking to recruit widely, not just
on site but in offices, and across a diverse pool,
says Stephen Teagle. “We’re looking at the barriers
to people coming in and we support graduates
and mentor people,” he says. The business offers
apprenticeships and trainee programmes in trade,
construction and business support.
“Something we absolutely must do is increase
the proportion of women in the sector,” Teagle
continues. “We have to make the case for the
industry. Having a more balanced housebuilding
model will be a strong attraction.”
The 479 homes in Ferry Lane, north London, will
all be wholly owned and managed as PRS units
Continued from page 18
With the latter it is delivering a purely private rented
development at the Ferry Lane site in north London.
(For more on this scheme and others, see box on page
17). There is much scope for PRS, Teagle states. “There
is an absolute opportunity to increase PRS delivery.
Sigma is working with others. There’s a range of PRS
providers that aren’t just focused on urban sites near
transport modes. There’s also an opportunity for low
rise PRS. It’s a sector that’s moved on from its infancy.”
With the company’s mixed tenure sensibilities,
Teagle must be pleased with the recently published
Letwin review. This advocates a greater range of
house types and tenures on large sites to improve
build out rates. “There are three positive things about
the Letwin review. Letwin understands the industry
and the business model. Secondly he has dealt
with discussions surrounding landbanking. It’s an
input cost; what we’re about is getting the land and
converting it to homes quickly. And – he understands
that in order to address increases in output, you must
deal with absorption. I see the review as a positive
contribution to the industry.”
Continued on page 22 4
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