The importance of a strong team - 2023 Reflection - Gavin

Gavin Watts / 11.09.2023
A look back at the year so far and the importance of teamwork in the studio!
With summer drawing to a close, Gavin shares his thoughts on this year so far and the importance of teamwork in the studio.
It has personally been a fantastic yet challenging year so far, with Ashley and I continuing to juggle the development of the practice and having become first time parents with our daughter Poppy. Finding this work-life balance is so important and at times has been extremely difficult, as many will know. Having a fantastic team of talented people in the studio has allowed us to achieve this, so I wanted to firstly take this opportunity to thank Anna, Sarah and Ellie for their efforts over these past nine months!

This busy period has also been marked by several project milestones. Our oriental inspired market completed in Altrincham and was welcomed to the community by hundreds of people and even saw a chinese dragon ritual dance on its opening day! We’ve been working on the technical development of several one-off bespoke properties in the North West and last but not least two of our education projects for the Watergrove Trust started on site in Rochdale.
To round off these fantastic achievements, we have recently been appointed on a couple of new projects, which will see the practice expand into the student residential and multi-housing sectors. 

In the studio, we congratulated Sarah for passing her written Part III exams as she continues her progress towards her accreditation at the end of the year. In June we were also fortunate to welcome Matt to the studio for a three month placement over summer with a view to join the team full time in 2024, after completing his final year of his Masters.

With autumn on the horizon, we are looking forward to seeing several projects reach completion with others starting on site. We are also continuing our work on several new build sites within Greenbelt Areas, somewhere we are seeing continued success and growth in. 
When looking back at these past eight months, it is fantastic to see the practice developing and continuing to push forward everyday. I have been very fortunate to work in so many great teams over the past 15 years with many lessons and skills developed along the way. I truly believe this is one of the best yet and I cannot wait to see what the rest of the year has to offer.