Now responsible for our major projects, Paul Noakes has enjoyed a long and varied career here at A.W. Hardy.
He’s known throughout our network for his professionalism, his proactive leadership, and for developing excellent relationships with our clients and contractors – so we figured you’d like to learn a little more about Paul and his role within our business.
How did you start out in your line of work?
I began my training as a carpenter (following in my dad’s footsteps) and gradually worked my way up to Site Manager. I completed my BTEC and put myself through college to achieve my Higher National Certificate (HNC) in Construction & The Built Environment, which taught me a great deal about the principles of my trade, how to approach projects, and the legal and statutory responsibilities we have as builders.
What are you most proud of during your time at A.W. Hardy?
I’m proud that I’m one of the company’s longest-serving employees. I actually joined Hardy’s as an apprentice when I left school, which is more than 26 years ago. I completed my HNC while gaining practical experience with the business and, after honing my skills further, I was eventually given the opportunity to run sites for them.
I’ve also been recognised twice as part of A.W. Hardy’s Employee of the Month Award Scheme.
What does your typical day look like?
As the person responsible for overseeing projects and sites, it’s important that I start early and open everything up, ready for the day to begin.
I’ll usually get to site at 7am. After a much-needed cup of tea, I’ll make sure everyone’s signed in and knows what they’re supposed to be getting on with. Occasionally I’ll need to chase people up, but it’s quite rare that any of our team let us down; we work with a lot of the same contractors, and there’s a real team spirit amongst us all.
Once everyone is accounted for, I’ll turn my attention to making sure all the necessary resources are in place, deliveries are taken in, and materials are ready to go. There’s typically lots of paperwork for me to complete. Throughout the day, you’ll usually find me liaising with our architects, building control representatives, and Mark (our Director of Construction) and Peter South (our Quantity Surveyor) for their input and advice. A big part of my role is feeding back project updates to the wider team, too.
I’m also quite hands on when the opportunity arises. You’ll often spot me unloading and moving materials with the forklift, driving plant, and generally tackling some of the jobs nobody else wants to do!
What do you love the most about your role?
By far the best part is handing the build to the client on completion and seeing how over the moon they are with the results. There’s not often a great deal of ceremony to it – the grand opening usually comes later! – but it’s always a satisfying moment, nonetheless.
And what’s the most challenging thing?
It can be very stressful at times, as I’m often relying on other people to bring the vision together, and as anyone working in construction knows, you often need to resort to a Plan B or a Plan C to meet your objectives and keep the client happy. But as I mentioned earlier, we have a great team of people around us who make the job a pleasure.
How do you like to spend your time outside of work?
The go-to for me would be to spend some quality time with my son. I like going out shopping or to the cinema; Marvel movies are some of my favourites. I’m also a big Formula 1 fan and one of my goals is to get to Silverstone one day.