Nationally Awarded, Individually Focused At Urban Homes, taking ownership is key. Building quality homes with integrity is what we do. Building meaningful relationships and world-class experiences that our clients remember for generations, is who we are. This year, it was a privilege to receive the Registered Master Builders Platinum Award for consistently achieving outstanding excellence across five or more National Category Titles and, we are proud to be the first home builder in the <strong>Waikato</strong> to achieve this. “The Registered Master Builders House of the Year competition has played a big part in our commitment to excellence and continual improvement over the years,” says Founder and Managing Director, Daniel Klinkenberg. “Joining the elite group of Platinum Award winners, I feel that Urban Homes has forged its place at the forefront of the New Zealand housing and residential building market.” To find out more about us and our award-winning homes, visit urban.co.nz/awards
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS, NOVEMBER/DECEMBER <strong>2022</strong> HOTY AWARDS 21 <strong>Waikato</strong>-based home builder Urban Homes takes home prestigious National Platinum Registered Master Builders Award <strong>Waikato</strong>-based home builder, Urban Homes, was awarded the prestigious National Platinum Award at the <strong>2022</strong> Registered Master Builders National House of the Year Awards, held in Auckland in <strong>November</strong>. The Platinum Award is given to a New Zealand builder who has achieved outstanding building excellence across five or more National Category titles. Urban Homes is the first <strong>Waikato</strong>-based builder to receive this prestigious award, and the mostawarded builder in the region. Urban Homes Managing Director, Daniel Klinkenberg, has no doubt that receiving this award is an honour, and comes down to the hard work of the Urban team on a day-to-day basis. “At Urban Homes, we treat every home we build as our own. The Registered Master Builders House of the Year competition has played a big part in our commitment to excellence and continual improvement over the years. “Each year the competition gets tougher. Winning regional categories against our industry peers is not easy, so I’m proud that we have achieved steady success over the years at a national level,” says Klinkenberg. Klinkenberg founded Urban Homes in Hamilton in 2004 with his wife Bronwyn, and utilising his background as a trade-qualified builder and high quality standards the business has grown to now build over 150 new homes each year across the <strong>Waikato</strong>, South Auckland and Coromandel. While much has changed over the last 18 years, their goal of building with integrity has never wavered. “I believe we occupy our own niche, taking the qualities of an independent building company but combining them with the robust systems and processes of a volume-based builder,” says Klinkenberg. “With the option to build from our current house plans or go bespoke, we never build the same house twice for our clients. It’s a partnership, and our aim is that clients enjoy the home-building process. Our team is clear that without our clients, we do not exist.” It’s no secret that the past couple of years have been challenging for those in the construction industry, facing material shortages and rising costs due to dramatic market shifts. Klinkenberg notes that like any other builder, Urban Homes has adapted to these market forces. “I have experienced all the highs and lows of running a construction business, and a smart company knows how to react to each end of the spectrum. For us, it’s about maintaining our core values and providing the best service to our clients. There’s nothing better than attending a client handover and seeing the end product ready to be enjoyed for years to come.” It would be hard to argue against Urban Homes’ consistency, achieving Gold awards every year since 2010, and collecting multiple supreme, category and lifestyle awards over the past decade. “Joining the elite group of Platinum Award winners, I feel that Urban Homes has forged its place at the forefront of the New Zealand volume housing and residential building market.” This win is certainly not an end point for Urban Homes, with Klinkenberg’s current work focused on developing the company’s franchise system, with opportunities going out to market soon across South Auckland, Bay of Plenty and Coromandel. “We’re looking to speak with like-minded, driven business people ready to share and expand our blueprint outside of our <strong>Waikato</strong> Bronwyn and Daniel Klinkenberg, Chris Foy, Andrew South, Brad Conning. base, with franchisees given all the tools to succeed including access to all software and systems with extensive head office support. “I have no doubt the future looks exciting, and while we have solid foundations and supports, we’re always ready to take a leap of faith to move the business forward.” Registered Master Builders <strong>2022</strong> apprentice of the year announced Chris Foy, 21, from the <strong>Waikato</strong> took out third place at this year’s Registered Master Builders CARTERS <strong>2022</strong> behind Apprentice of the Year Dane Schnell, 23, from Auckland and runner-up Paulo Oliveira, 29, from the Northern Region. The top eight apprentices from around Aotearoa came together in Auckland to compete in the final stages of the competition. Across a two-day event, the apprentices undertook a 45-minute interview with the national judging panel and a six-hour practical skills test. This year’s practical component challenged the apprentices to each create a rocket ship to donate to early learning centres through Evolve Education Group. Before qualifying for the national competition, each of the top eight apprentices competed against other apprentices in their region. This involved a written project submission, a two-hour regional practical challenge, and an interview and site visit. It is promising to see a steady increase in diversity in the Apprentice of the Year competition Registered Master Builders chief executive David Kelly was impressed with the group’s talent and their commitment to being the best in their field, especially during our current environment. “Learning new skills and applying oneself is challenging at the best of times but doing so under the conditions of the past two years is a testament to their dedication and commitment. “Leadership in our industry matters. We look at our up-and-coming apprentices and asses their aspirations to see how we can provide fulfilling career pathways, within the sector,” Kelly says. Every year the high level of talent in the competition grows, and at the same time diversity in the sector continues to improve. The Master Builders State of the Sector survey reported that nearly 60 percent of builders found that diversity in their businesses improved during the last year. This was supported by a recent MBIE report that showed increased diversity is being driven at the apprenticeship level, with the Government’s Apprenticeship Boost Scheme reporting that 19 percent of the over 50,000 apprentices in the scheme identifying as Māori and eight percent identify as Pacifica. “It is promising to see a steady increase in diversity in the Apprentice of the Year competition. Year-on-year the competition has seen an increase in diverse entrants. This year, we saw 20 percent of regional finalist from non-European backgrounds, as well as a quarter of our finalists. While we have more to do, it is encouraging to see good progress being made,” Kelly says. The sector has also seen an increase in females, with the recent MBIE report stating that the number of female workers employed in the sector has nearly doubled in the last decade. “Although there is still work to do in this area, the number of females increasing across the sector are very promising to see. It was also fantastic to see more females enter the competition this year and even place in the regional competition,” he says. The national competition was celebrated with the finalists Chris Foy, Apprentice. Urban Homes and their employers, family, and friends at a gala awards dinner in Auckland. Committed to standing behind all apprentices as they start their careers, CARTERS chief executive, Mike Guy is impressed with the talent the competition brings together year-on-year. “We have been sponsoring the Apprentice of the Year competition for 19 years now, and that’s something we are incredibly proud of. It’s great to be able to watch these talented apprentices giving their all in the competition and then going on to have successful careers. “CARTERS remains committed to supporting apprentices from across the country as they build their future in the construction industry. Partnering with the competition is a great way to celebrate emerging talent and our future industry leaders,” Guy says.
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