A day in the life working at Pegasus Homes

Jack Shields, Development Manager at Pegasus Homes

We caught up with Jack Shields, Development Manager at Pegasus Homes, to find out a little more about his role.

From starting his journey with Pegasus Homes on the Pegasus Graduate Scheme, Jack now has five years of experience working across our communities. Located in the Cheltenham office in Gloucestershire, Jack gets the chance to travel around the country, with the work he does across multiple developments.

Outside of work, Jack plays semi-professional rugby for his childhood club, Cinderford, based in the Forest of Dean. Jack says "Hopefully that explains the black eyes when I see colleagues and residents on my site visits. I’ve tried to retire, but miss being out on the field and the camaraderie of playing with my friends and teammates!"

Site visits

I’m fortunate to be involved in the refurbishment of our latest project, The Regal in Newbury. My day begins with a site meeting with the contractor to review progress, address any health and safety concerns, and work through any challenges they may be facing.

The Regal

The Regal is a particularly exciting project for us, as it's a development where we've taken on the refurbishment, management, and remarketing of the building. Jack’s team and others across the business are hard at work to integrate it into the existing Pegasus Homes portfolio even though we didn't do the original construction back in 2021. Our involvement includes transforming the communal spaces into a vibrant and community-focused spaces, with a new interior design scheme. It is incredibly rewarding to see the building transform into something they can be proud of. We anticipate relaunching the development to new customers in 2026.

To find out more about The Regal in Newbury, contact our sales team:
Call 01635 777 148
Email [email protected]
or visit www.pegasushomes.co.uk/theregal

Design projects

After the site meeting, I head back to the office for a design team meeting focused on our latest Build to Rent projects in Maidenhead and Camberley. During these  meetings, we discuss design challenges unique to these developments. As our first Build to Rent schemes, they feature new communal facilities and offerings not always found in our existing developments, such as a communal kitchen for pop-up catering events. We are currently familiarising the design team with Pegasus Homes standards in this area, while also guiding them with insights from our previous developments regarding what has been successful.

Working with contractors

Next on the agenda, I have a meeting with a main contractor responsible for the construction of one of our completed developments. We are approaching the end of the two-year defect liability period for this project, which is the period in which the contractor is responsible for rectifying any defects that arise. During the meeting, we review issues that we believe fall under the contractor’s responsibility and discuss the process for closeout. We maintain a retained amount of funds from the contract to help provide the leverage for a contractor to meet the requirements of the defect liability period.

What are the main responsibilities of your role?

Our duties are wide ranging to say the least! The Pegasus Homes Development team is responsible for driving a project from initial concept to completion, starting when we take over a site post-acquisition. We serve as the pivotal link, collaborating closely with internal departments and our appointed design team to secure planning permission. Following this approval, we move through the essential phases of technical design, tendering the project, and appointing a contractor based on our strategic procurement approach. Once construction commences, we manage the contractor throughout the entire lifecycle, which can last up to two years – with the full support of a dedicated project team. Our commitment includes rigorous quality assurance checks before the development is handed over as practically complete to our Operations team. We maintain a vital two-year collaboration post-handover to resolve any outstanding construction items and often provide critical input on historic issues, ensuring the long-term quality of every home we build.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

We are the custodians of the Pegasus Homes product and vision, delivering spaces that will be enjoyed by future residents. Seeing a project from inception to completion is truly rewarding, but given the extensive timeline of our projects, such instances are not common, which perhaps makes each successful completion even more gratifying.