This unique development of magnificent rural dwellings provides exceptional vistas of the surrounding landscape by taking advantage of a slope with a 1:12 gradient. The challenges involved with this are outweighed by the breathtaking views afforded by taking on such an extraordinary venture.

Mark Whelan, Director at Marie Thomas Homes, bought a plot of land in Barrowford to develop an exclusive range of high-end family homes. We interviewed Mark on the site of this former rural farm to find out why he chose to use C&W Berry to source materials, the products he used, and why he would recommend C&W Berry to other developers or homeowners.

Mark Whelan has been a customer of C&W Berry for over 30 years. He left the high flying corporate world and started developing houses to flip or rent out on a small scale and gradually evolved into large scale, high-end developments like this one, where attention to detail and quality is paramount and just one of the cornerstones of these phenomenal constructions.

Mark extolls the virtues of Berry's in which he appreciates the service, quality, flexibility and honest lead times that allowed him to optimally plan and execute this amazing development. It involved many challenges, including pumping surface water and foul 200 metres uphill to the main gravity drainage network, as well as dealing with geological conditions, drainage challenges and soil erosion caused by the expensive excavation of large areas in order to optimise terrain adjustment.

He believes that C&W Berry's efficient, honest, and proactive communication allowed him to meticulously project manage this unique development that features huge retaining walls and clever use of terracing to optimise views and aesthetic appeal. Around 80% of the materials for this development were sourced from C&W Berry, with our competitive prices, honest lead times, and unrivalled customer service being three of the major reaons that Mark continues to work with us.

He also appreciates the helpfulness of our drivers when delivering goods, allowing his team easy and immediate access to materials and negating the need to transport them by his team once on-site. 

"Time is really important to me. It’s not just about price. It’s about time. It's about service. And I find from Berry’s they tick all these boxes."

Marie Thomas Homes is a limited company and it’s owned by myself and Donna. Donna Whelan. I’m Mark Whelan. And we started from a background of terraced houses. I’ve been doing property for about 35 years now. So I’ve known Berry’s really for the last 30 years. I started ordering from them 30 years ago. But on a really small scale in those days.

From that really over the last 35 years - from a rental portfolio and flipping properties - we’ve sort of come to this stage now where we’re actually developing larger sites.

This build is five houses - five new-build houses - and we also have a farmhouse to refurbish. Two houses are priced at £975,000, two at £950,000, one at £750,00 and the farmhouse will be about £650,000.

It's been quite a challenging site because it’s on a slope, so we’ve had to put a lot of retaining walls in and we’ve had to terrace - to get the views and everything else  - we’ve had to terrace down. And as you can see, there’s a lot of product here from C&W Berry.

On here, these properties are about 3,000 sq ft plus garage. We’ve actually sold two now and we’ve got interest in that one over there, Plot 2.

Plot 3 has been bought by a local multi-millionaire. He’s having a swimming pool built at the front now which we’re on with at the moment. A closed swimming pool, a gym… which is all quite exciting because I’ve never done a pool before.

"If I'm stuck for something, C&W Berry will help me. Your sales office has been fantastic. Your drivers are fantastic. When they come to site I'll say, "can you just put something over there" and " can you just put something down there" and they'll do that.

And when I ring up the sales office [...] they always tell me when products are going to come, if they have it in stock, and if they haven't got it in stock they manage my expectations."

I’ve lived in Preston for 30-odd years, and I started buying off Berry’s all those years ago because I found it was a one stop shop. In those days I did a lot of work myself, so I think my relationship with C&W Berry started there.

So when I started this really I thought, ah… Berry’s… it’s a brand, isn’t it? You’ve built up a brand over the years.

But my role at Marie Thomas Homes is from cradle to grave, as well as site management. So because we’re a small company, time is really important to me. I’m looking at other land; I’m paying wages; I’m paying invoices; I’m doing all the orders; I’m running a site; I’m sorting out contractors. So to me, it’s not just about price, it’s about time, service, and I find from Berry’s they tick all these boxes.

And also if I’m stuck for something they’ll help me. Your sales office has been fantastic. Your drivers are fantastic. When they come to site I’ll say, “hey mate, can you just put something down there” and “can you just put something down there” and they’ll do that.

And when I ring up the sales office, I speak to Andrew Round who I find is fantastic. If he’s not available I speak to Ian or I speak to Karen. And they’ve always been fantastic and they always tell me when it’s going to come, if they have it in stock, if they haven’t got it in stock they manage my expectations as to when it will come.

So yes: quality, quality of service, and it just comes. Because like I say, my time is so important to me. Obviously cost is important because if you’re spending millions of pounds it’s important. But it’s not the be-all and end-all. I find service is really important.

Building on a 1:12 gradient and having to pump surface water and foul 200m from the bottom of the site to the main road. That’s it. And I would say Berry’s have helped.

Cockerham, South Lancaster. It’s a development of 22 mixed size houses. So two apartments, five semi-detached houses, three bungalows and all the rest are detached houses. That’s phase one. And then phase two will be 23 houses. 

We're also concurrently working on another site at Cuddy Hill in Preston which consists of two bespoke properties. One is 5,000 sq ft. The other one is just shy of 6,500 sq ft. They're in a countryside location but very handy for the motorway network.

"You've actually saved us time, you've saved us money, and you've saved us a lot of stress.

I've not got much hair left, but I think I'd have less hair left if I hadn't used Berry's."

Yes I would recommend C&W Berry 100%. They’ve been excellent for us, excellent for our business.

I think with the efficient workings with them, you’ve actually saved us time, you’ve saved us money, and you’ve saved us a lot of stress.

I’ve not got much hair left, but I think I’d have less hair left if I hadn’t used Berry’s.