Bell Homes

Source: Construction Digital

Date :03/01/2008 16:10:19

As a family business, Bell Homes is a company that tries to maintain its focus on its community and values. ExecUK looks at the company’s development

Written by Lucy Mowatt and Produced by Nicholas Davies

As the MD of the company, Ashley Drew has seen Bell Homes evolve into a successful business which has seen year-on-year growth for the past five years.

He has been employed by KW Bell & Son Ltd since the 1970s and has always worked in the construction sector.

At the start of his career, Drew worked for Westbury Homes, a development company for which Keith Bell, the founder of Bell Homes, was working for as a contractor. “My first office was shared with two other people in a converted coal shed on the side of a garage. It was very humble,” he says, but the company has grown, keeping those beginnings in mind.

He explains that the company’s focus has remained largely unaltered, in spite of the name change; he feels that the company is working towards “controlled expansion” and is doing so in line with a positive trend in the market. The company is open-minded about the projects it undertakes and its expertise, providing that it will result in a return on investment.

Bell Homes is the outcome of a marketing project, which began twelve to 18 months ago. It was decided that the company’s image was dated and needed to be modernised. “We called in professionals to help us with that. We used Lines group in Cheltenham, and the current brand is what we arrived at,” Ashley Drew explains.

KW Bell Group Ltd has retained its trading name, but is now marketed as Bell Homes. The company has had a new website built and a new logo too. The MD says, “Our website tries to cover everything we embody in terms of family values, which is at the core of the way we run the business.”

Mr Drew further reveals Bell Homes’ approach to advertising. He says that the strategy is localised and develops according to which areas they are involved with; “We operate within a 100 mile radius of our head office in Cinderford, so we advertise locally.”

A medium sized developer

This 100 mile radius takes in areas of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Oxfordshire and south Wales. Since its inception, the company has constructed 750 homes in the area and the number of units built per year is continually increasing. It is currently looking to start a project of 57 houses in Wales, which will be on the market within two years. “It’s a modest construction of two and three bedroom houses and apartments,” Mr Drew explains, “which are at the lower end of the price scale.

“We built 60-70 homes in 2006 and 80-100 homes in 2007. This year we’re looking to complete around 120 units. We are also looking to replace the units that we sell and increase those figures by ten to 20 percent.” Bell Homes tends to build units which sell at an average price of around £200,000 and house prices are increasing too, although the figure fluctuates depending on where in the region the company is working.

He also points to the media’s involvement in price rises, stating that they generate controversy about developers land banking. “As a medium sized developer, I can tell you that you can’t afford to sit on land,” Ashley Drew says, stating that land is currently the industry’s most valuable asset. This in itself brings its own problems, Mr Drew says: “Given that value, it’s very difficult to evaluate land on a competitive basis if you can’t get secure negotiations with a planning authority before purchasing a site.”

Legislation on environmental issues, revision of construction techniques, waste control and the slowness with which these matters are dealt with add to the difficulties. It may be that lack of understanding by construction companies and the authorities lead to difficulties in proceeding from construction to occupation.

These issues aside, the company is influenced by the financial climate of fluctuating interest rates which affects confidence in the market place, and this before the introduction of HIPS slowed the number of buyers re-entering the housing market.

The company employs approximately 40 people, who have experience in the construction industry, and can learn from developments made by other companies. “We do our own housing design; we look at what other people do and pick out the things that we think are advantageous. We then evaluate how that fits in with what we do and develop it from there,” the MD elaborates.

Modern business

Bell Homes also uses AutoCAD drawing programs to ensure that designs are drawn up quickly and effectively. Customers are given the opportunity to choose the internal fixtures and fittings too. “We don’t let them make any structural changes, but we do give them choices on colour and materials.

In our kitchens, we give them a full choice within a range of products with matching features, including tiling and flooring,” Mr Drew explains. He goes on to say, with houses in the range of £600,000-£800,000, customers can become more involved with design, because they are investing a lot and have strong ideas about what they want their houses to look like. Bell Homes has a longstanding relationship with an interior design company too, which is used to ensure that the houses are all visually attractive.

Bell Homes has also developed a network of trusted and reliable contractors. “I like to think that that we have a committed group of people who have worked with us and strive to deliver quality. It’s still a very local business built on personal interaction.” KW Bell Group Ltd also operates a contractor business, which is run by Keith’s son Peter. This company is able to work for Bell Homes and other developers in the area and supports the business.

Loyal employees

The company has a very low staff turnover too. As aforementioned, the company is still family owned, and employs roughly 19 members of the Bell family and Mr Drew is a prime example of length of service. “Generally speaking, as a family business, we’re friendly and try to focus our attentions on pulling together towards the common good. You spend eight to ten hours a day at work and we feel that you work your best if you feel like you belong.”

Quality is the responsibility of the workforce, as well as other companies and certificating bodies. Initially, Bell Homes has to seek approval from local authorities throughout the building process, which will carry out inspections.

It also works with NHBC or Zurich to further ensure build quality and standards. A recent addition to legislation state that new homes have to minimise the escape of heat and air; Ashley Drew says that in recent tests Bell Homes exceeded the regulations set and put the company at the front of the market.

In 2007 the company also won the Family Business of the Year Award in recognition of its approach to business. Ashley Drew says that Bell Homes is proud to have won the award, although its primary focus is on its business and upon offering the customer the best service.

Going forward, the company is looking to grow in a controlled manner and maintain its family-run status. It also owns a four acre site opposite to its head office, which could be used to produce timber frames for new builds, in line with government legislation on sustainability.