Sarah, Caroline and their mother, Linda, were delighted to attend the annual Construction Awards of Excellence last week to receive the ‘NFB Member Special Recognition Award’ on Brian’s behalf. The award recognises individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the industry and community.
It’s been an emotional year for the founding family of Skipton Properties. With the first anniversary of Brian’s passing next week, it is a fitting memory for a larger-than-life character.
The following is the speech given at the NFB’s Construction Summit before the awards evening.
‘The late Brian Verity founded Skipton Properties in 1986 and built his first 100-home site in Skipton, the company’s namesake. Such a large project was bold and reflected his character in business. He started from nothing, and his passion for his family and work drove his ambition to succeed. Whatever the result of his decisions, he’d bounce back with increased vigour to build better; he founded Skipton Properties with a desire to build homes with quality, showcasing workmanship that surpassed most of his peers. Although having grown up in the local area, he wasn’t driven purely by profit (however, of course, this is one of the reasons anyone is in business); he was passionate about leaving a mark on the towns he built in.
One example of this mark is in Oxenhope, West Yorkshire. He took a risk and built many homes in the village, which was struggling with a declining population then. As a result, Skipton Properties’ development projects breathed life back into the area, and to this day, it is still a desirable place to live.
Due to his quality aspirations, he would build a bit differently from other developers, with a large proportion of the workforce under full employment. In addition, with his engineering background, Brian had a passion for machinery, so he found himself at the vanguard of complex development projects and took on challenges other developers wouldn’t dream of – too many to mention here.
Brian lived and breathed Skipton Properties and was involved right to the very end. He was incredibly passionate about his employees and has repeatedly gone above and beyond to help when they have had a crisis. As a result, some of the company’s employees have been with them for over 30 years, a testament to Brian’s relationships and loyalty.
A Family man, Friend, Employer, and NFB member. Brian had many hats. Let’s celebrate him for his loyalty, wanting to succeed for his family, passion for construction and caring nature.
Here’s to our father and late leader.
“As you can imagine, it was an emotional moment receiving this award on behalf of our father. It would have been a proud moment for him, not that he would have made that known!
Our father was a very caring man; he cared about his employees and the legacy he was creating. His passion for quality runs through our company’s veins, and it’s all been made possible by his founding vision. We’re honoured to take the company forward and build on what he created”
Sarah and Caroline
Brian wasn’t the only man commended for his contributions on the evening. We’d also like to take the opportunity to congratulate James Harrison of J.E. Harrison Builders and Robert Bion Manners of T Manners and Sons, who also received this award for their own outstanding contributions.
