Danny is a double hero at homes site

He was only 23 when he achieved a childhood ambition of becoming a site manager, taking on the role at the home builder’s Tadpole CDANNY Clifford has been site manager on a Swindon development for less than a year, and in that time he has proven himself to be a hero - twice.

Still just 24, Danny has enjoyed a successful, if eventful, opening seven months in the role at Tadpole Close – not only skilfully directing a large team delivering the homes on site, but also twice coming to the rescue when local residents required urgent medical attention.

The first incident involved a collision involving a car being driven by a pregnant woman.

Danny drove the woman to hospital to make sure she was okay and, after she was given the all-clear by staff, ensured she could continue to get around by offering transport over the next couple of weeks while her car was repaired.

Then, only two days later, Danny was called upon to act fast again when he carried out CPR on a young boy who had suffered a seizure and stopped breathing. The boy received further treatment from medics and survived.

Danny, who lives in Gloucester and was originally a plasterer by trade, said: “I was told that some site managers can be in the industry for 50 years and nothing like that ever happens – for me, it happened twice in one week.

“It just goes to show that no one can prepare you for site management in that respect.

“You’ve got to be ready for anything that the job throws at you.”

Danny is one of the youngest site managers in the history of Bovis Homes. He was only 23 when he achieved a childhood ambition of becoming a site manager, taking on the role at Tadpole Cross.

“Being a good site manager is about dedication, doing what you say you’re going to do to the best of your ability, and being totally honest and truthful with the site team, customers and the local community,” he said.

“Trust and integrity are vital and you can’t overstate the importance of good communication.”

And he added: “We want our home buyers to be happy with everything before they move in, so before they do so, we meet them for a home reservation check list and we show them the home that they’re going to buy,” explained Danny.“The best part of the job is handing over the keys to a house that the customer is really happy with and that they could potentially live in for the rest of their life – nothing beats that.

On site the open communication with the team means daily briefings with contractors and a feedback system where everyone is invited to contribute ideas on how things could be improved.

“At the end of the day, we spend more time on site than we do at home so you need to make sure the environment you’re working in is a good one, that everyone gets on with one another, and that you’re building houses to the highest standard.

“We’ve even put flowers on the way up to the site office, just to make the place look more attractive and welcoming.”ross location, near Swindon.

Still just 24, Danny has enjoyed a successful, if eventful, opening seven months in the role at the Wiltshire development – not only skilfully directing a large team delivering the homes on site, but also twice coming to the rescue when local residents required urgent medical attention.

“Being a good site manager is about dedication, doing what you say you’re going to do to the best of your ability, and being totally honest and truthful with the site team, customers and the local community,” said Danny, who was originally a plasterer by trade.

“Trust and integrity are vital and you can’t overstate the importance of good communication – it’s huge.”

With customers that means making himself available to discuss their new home at key points of the build – especially just before they are due to move in.

“We want our home buyers to be happy with everything before they move in, so before they do so, we meet them for a home reservation check list and we show them the home that they’re going to buy,” explained Danny.

“The best part of the job is handing over the keys to a house that the customer is really happy with and that they could potentially live in for the rest of their life – nothing beats that.

“We’re also really keen to foster a strong community spirit in locations where we’re building new homes, so we meet local residents and organisations, such as schools, to make sure they’re happy and on board with what we’re doing.”

On site the open communication with the team means daily briefings with contractors and a feedback system where everyone is invited to contribute ideas on how things could be improved.

“At the end of the day, we spend more time on site than we do at home so you need to make sure the environment you’re working in, is a good one, that everyone gets on with one another, and that you’re building houses to the highest standard. We’ve even put flowers on the way up to the site office, just to make the place look more attractive and welcoming.”

As well as the everyday challenges that come with being site manager, Danny has dealt with a couple of more extraordinary incidents in his short time at the helm.

The first incident involved a collision involving a car being driven by a pregnant woman.

Danny drove the woman to hospital to make sure she was okay and, after she was given the all-clear by staff, ensured she could continue to get around by offering transport over the next couple of weeks while her car was repaired.

Then, only two days later, Danny was called upon to act fast again when he carried out CPR on a young boy who had suffered a seizure and stopped breathing. The boy received further treatment from medics and survived.

Danny, who lives in Gloucester Docks, said: “I was told that some site managers can be the industry for 50 years and nothing like that ever happens – for me, it happened twice in one week!

“It just goes to show that no one can prepare you for site management in that respect.

“You’ve got to be ready for anything that the job throws at you.”

Ends

Attached image: Danny Clifford at Tadpole Cross, near Swindon