A day in the life: Henry Beynon, Project Manager
By Henry Beynon, Project Manager
Henry Beynon, Project Manager
Hey everyone, Henry here.
I'm the Project Manager at Wellgate, and a huge part of my role involves looking after our properties, from keeping homes safe and compliant to refurbishments to developing brand-new services from the ground up. I've been here for seven years, and if you've ever wondered who's behind the scenes making sure our homes are safe, our kitchens work, and our new services get built properly, that's the brilliant maintenance teams I work with, and me in particular, Nick and Tony in the south.
Ask most people what that involves, and you'll probably hear something like "fixes leaky taps" or "sorts out broken boilers." Honestly, that's just a small part of it. The rest is stuff most people never notice, but it's what keeps everything ticking along.
There's no real typical day for me, and that's kind of the point. I'm constantly getting updates from our maintenance teams in the north and the south, and I have to work out what needs sorting first. Sometimes it's routine stuff, like a check that's due or a repair that’s needed urgently. Other times, it's a safety issue in one of our homes, and that jumps straight to the top of the list, for obvious reasons.
A lot of my role is about staying flexible. Underneath all of it sits compliance. Fire safety, gas safety, electrical checks. These are the things that have to be right every single day, because that's what keeps the people we support safe.
A recent win: Sandgate Manor kitchen
One job I'm pleased to say is finally finished is the kitchen refurb at Sandgate. To keep costs down, we decided to do it in-house, which meant it took longer to complete than planned because the maintenance team kept having to step away to handle urgent jobs elsewhere. I'm fairly hands off on the actual building work, but I worked closely with Nick and Tony throughout, and it's great to finally see it finished and in use. Huge well done to both of them for their hard work on getting it over the line.
My favourite part of the job is when we're shaping a brand new service, working with architects, developers and contractors. It's more exciting because you're creating something rather than just maintaining it, though newer buildings come with their own learning curve too.
At Brickyard Court, we're currently reconfiguring the layout of a ground-floor shared unit, converting a three-bedroom accommodation into two self-contained apartments. A couple of structural challenges along the way, but we're nearly there. One apartment is already tenanted and the second is due to be finished in early July.
Outside of work
I grew up in north west London, where I still live, though I try to get over to Ireland throughout the year to see close family and friends.
After completing an undergraduate degree in Agri-business, I pursued a postgraduate qualification in surveying, and not long afterwards, I found myself at Wellgate, where I've been ever since.
Outside of work, I enjoy the occasional endurance challenge. Earlier this year, I completed my first Hyrox event in Vienna, and more recently, I finished the Brighton Marathon in April. I also enjoy the odd tennis match, despite my lack of hand-eye coordination.
A typical weekend usually involves country walks with my partner and a couple of the family dogs, followed by a visit to the local pub for a pint and a scotch egg.