Nov 21 2007
Miller Homes has been named Housebuilder of the Year for the second time in six months - and by a second group of industry peers.
Only a handful of housebuilders have ever picked up both accolades - the sector's most prestigious awards in housebuilding - in one year, but Miller Homes has done just that, stealing the highly coveted "Housebuilder of the Year" crown from Building and What House?, two of the most respected housing magazine titles on the market today.
Judges at the recent What House? Awards, held in London on 16 November, praised Miller Homes for "creating a compelling and highly successful business" and said the business was, "a deserved winner of the most coveted award in British Housebuilding."
Special mention was made of the company's online activities. In their summing up, the panel said that Miller had, "grasped the huge importance and power of the web to meet customer needs and expectation, without forgetting the bricks and mortar, its homes - that are the solid foundations of its success".
This award was one of four that Miller Homes collected that night. They bagged a Bronze in the hotly contested Sustainable Developer category, in recognition of their newly published sustainability strategy and commitment to reaching higher levels in greener living.
Their 'Lorimer' home on the Graysmill development in Edinburgh scored Silver in the luxury living category whilst Miller Homes also came top of the class in the 'Best Large Housebuilder' contest - beating some of the best known names in British housebuilding to take the trophy.
Judges made special mention of the company's newly launched website, www.mymillerstreet.co.uk - which enables residents on each of Miller Homes' live developments to get to know their neighbours online.
The expert panel said, "This is a brave move because such forums can prove a hotbed for complaints, but that is half the point, allowing Miller Homes to address issues and get it right next time if there are problems on a site."
Miller Homes' impressive financial performance was also pulled out for praise - turnover has increased by 620% in just seven years.
Chief Executive of Miller Homes, Tim Hough, said; "I cannot begin to describe how pleased I am that independent judges reviewed what we are doing here at Miller Homes and then chose us as Housebuilder of the Year.
"The awards are a great testimony to the hard work of every single Miller Homes' employee, all of whom work tirelessly to make sure that we always provide good quality products and a first class level of service to each and every one of our customers.
"We win many awards, but this is something rather special."
Keith Miller, Chief Executive of the Miller Group Limited, added; "These Housebuilder of the Year titles are the 'Oscars' for our industry and both trophies will provide tremendous encouragement to all of our teams throughout the UK.
"We were very, very pleased to accept these awards and there were certainly many happy people at all our of Homes' offices and sites across the country on Monday morning."