e study
hillside dream
Frustrated by the lack of
properties in Bedfordshire that
lived up to their expectations,
Adam Harrison and wife
Amanda decided to build their
own home. Six years earlier,
the couple had failed to get
planning permission but were
determined that - this time
- everything would go to plan.
So, they quickly enlisted the
help of Jewson.
Adam says: “The location was the
first thing that attracted us; it is on the
outskirts of a Georgian market town
where land is hard to come by.
The sloping nature of the site was also
a big draw to us – whilst it presented
a huge challenge, it also allowed
us to build a unique, architecturally
interesting property.”
“Jewson were recommended to us
early on” says Adam. “One of the
main selling points was that we would
have our own relationship manager,
Tom Dicks, to support and advise us
from start to finish of the build.
“We developed a good
relationship with Tom,
long before I started
buying materials.”
“Tom visited the site when we drew
up the initial plans and right through
the challenging 18 months of revising
plans and waiting for permission to be
granted, Tom helped us to understand
the different materials and quantities
that we needed, and worked with us
to source them at the best price.”
“Jewson understood what we wanted
to achieve and helped us with
everything we needed. As Jewson
caters for the mass market, we had
access to the widest possible selection
of general building materials, which
we bought at competitive prices.
When it came to more specialised
items they did not supply, Jewson
introduced us to relevant suppliers,
explaining what we wanted to achieve
and negotiating trade discounts on our
behalf. This helped us dramatically in
terms of time and cost savings.”
Adam comments: “I found in the
past that many merchants do not
have customer service, integrity and
reliability in their vocabulary, but
Jewson is different. To me, one of
the most important factors is that a
company does what it says it will
do. Jewson always delivered what
it promised which counts for a lot.
Inevitably we came across some
problems along the way, but unlike
many other traders Jewson
recognised them and went out of
their way to help resolve any issues.”
As well as supplying materials,
Jewson helped in other ways: “The
local Jewson branch manager visited
the site to formulate delivery plans to
overcome problems caused by limited
site access. For example, the shape
of the site meant that we couldn’t take
bulk deliveries of materials such as
sand. So, the delivery driver took the
time to deposit sand bags strategically
around the site, allowing us more
room. Bricks were also delivered in
manageable chunks and the
remainder of the order was held
at the Flitwick branch. This help )݅́