Magenta Living Invests in Homegrown Project Manager Talent
Leading North West housing provider, Magenta Living has invested in an internal training programme designed to nurture home-grown project manager talent in its development team, as it rolls-out its largest ever affordable-home building programme.
By focusing on up-skilling existing employees and providing on-the-job training within its development team, Magenta Living is developing its own talent pool of future project managers, equipping employees with a range of in-demand capabilities and experience.
The approach has seen the development team take on colleagues from elsewhere in the business, as well as promoting within its own ranks. Former Income Officer, Lauren Huggon has taken up a Trainee Project Manager post, along with Annette Westwater who was previously a Development Assistant, and the development team plans to introduce further trainee roles in the near future.
Louise Edwards, previously a Project Manager in the team, has been promoted to Senior Project Manager. The internal appointments have been complemented by the recruitment of Carole Dowd who was previously with Your Housing Group and is also taking up a Senior Project Manager role.
The new influx of talent will support Magenta Living in delivering its current development programme, which will see it build more than 650 new homes in locations across the Wirral and wider North West by 2022, significantly expanding its geographical reach. The new properties will consist of a variety of tenures, with homes being built for rent, sale and shared ownership.
The housing provider also has ambitious plans to raise additional finance that will enable it to increase the size of its development programme to 2,270 new homes.
In Wirral the housing provider is working on several new developments, including schemes in Woodchurch, West Kirby, Eastham and Wallasey.
Other developments currently underway include Halton Court in Runcorn, where Magenta Living is building 71 homes, providing a mixture of shared ownership and affordable rent properties, and The Elephant in Shavington, a 45 home scheme with a mixture of affordable and shared ownership, ranging from one bedroom to four-bedroom properties.
Magenta Living Head of Development, John Siddell said, “Project management expertise is in high demand, both within our own organisation and across the property and construction industry but there is a shortage of experienced people available to fulfil those roles. By training up our own project management experts we are creating our own talent pool – a readily available resource that will enable us not only to deliver our current development programme as efficiently as possible but also to hit the ground running as and when we expand that programme. It’s also extremely important to Magenta Living, as an employer, that we invest in our people and give them a chance to learn new skills and enhance their career prospects.”
Lauren Huggon, Trainee Project Manager added, “This is a really exciting time to be part of Magenta Living’s development team, given the scale of the projects we’re undertaking. Being able to learn on the job means we are developing practical skills as well as theoretical ones and the senior members of the development team have been extremely supportive, giving us the time and insight we need to become fully rounded project managers.”
Magenta Living has a strong track record of investing in its people. It was recently re-awarded Investors in People (IIP) Gold status and is now pursuing Platinum status.