The site manager in charge at Bellway’s Alder Grove development in Newport has been recognised for his commitment to excellence by the National House Building Council (NHBC).
Mark Symonds, 55, from Abergavenny, has received a coveted Seal of Excellence in the NHBC’s 2026 Pride in the Job Awards.
He was presented with the accolade at the Pride in the Job regional awards ceremony for Wales, held at the Cardiff Marriott Hotel on Friday 4 September.
Mark is among an elite group of just seven site managers from the Wales region to be awarded a Seal of Excellence this year, from a field of 17 candidates who qualified for the judging process by winning a Quality Award in the first round of the competition in June.
It is the fourth Seal of Excellence that Mark has won during his more-than 30-year career as a site manager – and the second in successive years for his work at Alder Grove.
Mark said: “Winning a Seal of Excellence is a real feather in the cap for any site manager so I’m incredibly proud to win two back-to-back. It takes a huge amount of dedication, teamwork and attention to detail to meet the standards required by the judges and I’m delighted that we’ve been able to achieve that once again.
“As a site manager, it’s my job to lead from the front and set the standard but ultimately you are only as strong as your team. I am therefore fortunate to have a brilliant group of contractors on site who are as dedicated as I am to building homes of the highest possible quality as well as excellent support from my Bellway Wales colleagues based at our head office in Cardiff.”
Now in their 45th year, the Pride in the Job awards are among the most prestigious in the housebuilding industry. Judging is a rigorous process which encompasses every aspect of a site manager’s responsibilities, including consistency, attention to detail, leadership, interpretation of drawings and specifications, technical expertise and health and safety.
James Morgan, Head of Construction for Bellway Wales, said: “Mark’s second successive Seal of Excellence with Bellway is deserved recognition for his unstinting professionalism and unwavering commitment to achieving the highest standards in construction. We’re extremely proud of Mark and his team for their success in 2025 and 2026, which reflects Bellway’s targeting of the Pride in the Job awards as part of our strategic focus on quality.”
