Leading 5-star housebuilder, Barratt Developments North East, has welcomed its first ever female director to its board of directors.
Karen Wheatley joins the board as the region’s new Commercial Director, which comprises seven board members in total. Karen’s role will cover the growth and development of the business, while helping to identify new commercial opportunities.
Karen has a degree in Quantity Surveying and began her career in construction in 1987 as a Cost and Bonus Surveyor within the local government, which spanned different aspects of construction. After 16 years, Karen joined a private construction company, Frank Haslam Milan, where she worked for 19 years and worked her way up to Head of Commercial for new build construction. Covering different build solutions, including new build sales and social housing, commercial builds, student accommodation, and modern methods of construction (MMC), Karen brings with her over 35 years of experience alongside a vast amount of knowledge across construction and housebuilding.
Since stepping into her new role, Karen has also taken part in a staff volunteer day at Whinnies Community Gardens, where Barratt staff members helped with maintenance of the gardens, including weeding and tidying the flowerbeds, painting fences, demolishing old sheds, and installing new waterproof roofs on other sheds. The gardens, which are in Sunniside, is a project for people of all ages with mental and physical disabilities, providing a place where people can come together with a shared interest and enjoy leisure and gardening activities, including the opportunity to grow their own produce, enjoy bird watching, or simply sit and relax. The gardens are always looking for volunteers to help out with more manual jobs they cannot achieve alone so the help that Karen and other Barratt staff offered was very much welcomed and appreciated.
Karen Wheatley, Commercial Director at Barratt Developments North East, commented: “I’m extremely excited not only to be the new Commercial Director for Barratt Developments North East, but also to be the first female on the board. As the largest housebuilder in the UK, I’m extremely keen to contribute to the great results that the company is already achieving, by strengthening and extending the supply chain and working in partnership with existing and new providers. I’m also looking forward to working closely with my team and supporting their development, while encouraging a workplace environment that is full of enthusiasm and drive.”
Carl Sobolewski, Managing Director at Barratt Developments North East, said: “We’re thrilled to have Karen join the board of directors at Barratt Developments North East as the new Commercial Director. With a wealth of experience in the construction and housebuilding industry, she has a lot of fantastic knowledge to offer and we’re looking forward to the guidance that she can provide to our commercial team – not only to help deliver our business strategy, but to also continue to support business’ growth by delivering quality homes to customers across the North East.”
