May 2019

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In this issue

The Interview - Jonathan Cranley & Ben Leather, Spitfire Bespoke Homes

Jonathan Cranley and Ben Leather are regional managing directors of Spitfire Bespoke Homes in the south and Midlands respectively. They talk to Suzie Mayes about design challenges, the joys of belonging to a medium housebuilder and how they both intend to lead the rapid growth of the business

Doing digital

With the traditional model of home buying in decline, Niclas Staberg calls for the industry to embrace the technologies that are changing the way people buy homes

Future Home unknowns

So far there has been little detail divulged on The Future Home Standard beyond the Spring Statement announcement. Suzie Mayes looks at what we know so far and what the industry thinks

HBF Viewpoint

HBF Policy director David O'Leary examines the latest round of mandatory gender pay gap reporting and looks at how the industry is performing - and what it should do to improve

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Policy Conference captures hurdles to homes target

The HBF Policy Conference saw the housing secretary send a “call to arms” to industry to get building while other speakers detailed the numerous obstacles to this. Suzie Mayes reports

The Interview – Dave Smith & Matt Vincent, Spitfire Homes

Dave Smith became managing director of Spitfire Homes in 2025, with Matt Vincent operations director since 2024. They talk to Suzie Mayes about offering high quality homes in different markets, changes to the company and moving from being an SME to a more regionalised business

Celebrating social value

Julie Baker, Keepmoat North West’s social value manager, was crowned 2025’s Housebuilder Star for her commitment to helping young people. Suzie Mayes discovers why Baker’s background motivated her and takes a look at how other housebuilders approach social value

Crafting a career in construction

NHBC explores the various routes into housebuilding and the training it delivers to help resolve the skills shortage and retain talent