In conversation with Carlene Goodearl of Rangeford Villages

Carlene’s role at Rangeford

Speaking about her hands-on work at Rangeford, Carlene said: “My work starts at the design stage where the team and I take schemes through design, procurement, contract negotiation, the construction phase, and handover to our operations and sales colleagues.”

Expanding on the importance of being available and proactive for the owners of Rangeford Villages homes, Carlene said: “It’s nice for owners to put a face to a name. Owners typically come from a larger self-owned house to our villages to enjoy life and be part of a community.”

“That’s why they need to know and trust Rangeford – so that we can be confident that our owners are happy and love where they live.”

The importance of later-living homes

While Carlene has worked for Rangeford since 2023, her history in the later-life housing field stretches back further, back to 2014.

“Everyone deserves somewhere of quality and warmth that they can retire to, whether that’s a leasehold village like the Rangeford model, or a shared or rented ownership provided by other retirement specialists,” said Carlene, explaining her enthusiasm for the later-living homes sector. “At Rangeford and in my previous positions, we’re not just creating homes we’re creating communities. I think about creating places I would like my own grandparents, or parents, to live.”

Understanding the sector

We asked Carlene to talk more about the later-living homes sector, specifically whether there are some misconceptions about their work.

“Although we built for older people, we don’t build for the infirm, we’re not building ‘care homes,” Carlene said. “We’re building active communities – a owner told me recently that she went swimming, did yoga, took an art class and went to a seminar with a stylist all on the same day.”

“There is a perception from some that amenity spaces are unnecessary costs, because it can’t be sold and must be maintained, but it’s the amenity spaces that keep our owners active, sociable and part of a community in a Rangeford village – ultimately that why our owners live here.”

Carlene’s nomination

Asked why she believed she had been nominated by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) for an award in their Top 100 Women in Construction, Carlene suggested it was to do with her dedication to being there for residents.

As we discussed earlier, Carlene prides herself on having a ‘caring and above and beyond’ approach to her work with Rangeford – particularly her availability to residents.

“There’s been many a time when I’ve been out for dinner with colleagues, or my partner, and I’ll take calls to deal with problems at an owner’s home – even missing my partner’s dad’s sixtieth birthday,” Carlene said. “Scenarios where people don't have heating, and I have to imagine my own dad in that situation - we’ve left restaurants to drive out and meet an engineer on site to get it fixed. It’s about having a moral compass for what your owners need.”

LABC Warranty’s role on Rangeford’s sites

Talking about the benefits that Rangeford sees when working with LABC Warranty, Carlene focused on the quality of technical guidance offered by LABC Warranty’s experts.

“The start of the quality journey starts at pre-contract drawing checks, and LABC Warranty has always been a very good sounding board for us at that stage,” Carlene said. “We have a very good pool of consultants, LABC Warranty included, and the Risk Management Inspectors that [LABC Warranty] sends around are diligent, all of which stops major defects and problems from happening on our sites.”

On what sets LABC Warranty apart from other providers in the sector, Carlene pointed to the availability of expertise whenever they need it.

“I know I can pick up the phone to a technical director, site inspector or account manager and speak to the people that I need to speak to,” Carlene said. “For instance, we had a brick detailing query, and we were able to speak to Jonathan Poulton at LABC Warranty.

“He took the time to show me what I should be looking for in the detailing, what good and bad look like on this detail, and helped make an informed customer for LABC Warranty.

“What LABC Warranty does well is make customers informed, and make them an involved and collaborative partner in producing high-quality homes.”

What’s coming for Rangeford in 2025

Carlene is excited about Rangeford in 2025, citing the opening of new villages and the expansion of their homes to a new village.

“We have new schemes in planning at the moment, which hopefully will go into contract next year to deliver more than 450 new homes,” Carlene said. “We’ll also be opening Strawberry Fields, which LABC Warranty are providing warranty on.”

“It’ll be a really exciting year – busy, but exciting!”

The Site Manager Awards

Will Jones, Site Manager for Beards Construction, working on Rangeford’s site Wadswick Green Phase 2C in Corsham, is the 2024 winner of the West of England Site Manager of the Year Award.

This award, a prestigious and sought-after award for site managers in England and Wales, automatically enters Will into the National Site Manager of the Year award in January 2025.