Member Article

Ward Hadaway hosts 10th annual Housebuilder Quiz night

Leading law firm Ward Hadaway recently hosted its popular annual Housebuilders Quiz night for the 10th year at As You Like It in Jesmond, Newcastle.

For the 10 years the quiz has been running, more than 25 housebuilders across the North have submitted teams. This year saw 16 teams representing housing businesses across the region competing for the crown with Ward Hadaway associate solicitor Stephen Carrick acting as compere for the evening.

Each year at the quiz, teams are given a bag of LEGO and tasked to create something spectacular to a given theme. They are then judged on their LEGO creations for a special prize.

The event was also attended by North East professional LEGO artist Steve Mayes, who runs North East company Brick This - Lego Architecture. Steve recently opened a studio in North Shields and is working on a commission to create a ‘Timeline of Northern Innovation’ to be displayed at the Mining Institute from 22nd June as part of the summer’s Great Exhibition of the North, which Ward Hadaway is also supporting.

Steve was on hand this year to give the teams some helpful hints and tips while they were building their legal creations themed around “Royalty”. Steve proclaimed Bellway Homes as this year’s LEGO round champions.

After eight competitive quiz rounds, Galliford Try were crowned the overall winners, followed closely in second place by County Durham Housing Group with Avant Homes, Barratt Homes and Homes England tying in third place. An eventful and fun evening was had by all.

Helen O’Neill, a partner in the housebuilding team at Ward Hadaway in Newcastle, said: “On behalf of Ward Hadaway’s housebuilding team, I would like to thank everyone who was able to join us for this special evening which also marked 10 years since our first quiz. We are most grateful for everyone’s support.

“It was great to welcome Steve Mayes this year too, as much like our own, Steve’s particular areas of interest lie primarily in architecture and the built environment as can be seen by the fantastic LEGO models of St James’s Park and the Civic Centre which he brought to the event.”

2018 marks a special year for Ward Hadaway as it celebrates its 30th anniversary firm-wide with a decade in Leeds and six years in Manchester.

Lesley Fairclough, partner and head of development at Ward Hadaway, said: “It’s events like this one that have enabled us to build strong and lasting relationships with our housebuilding clients over the years, but they have also enabled us to make personal connections with them too.

“Many of the housebuilder teams who attended our first quiz all those years ago still want to take part in our quiz which has become a firm and very popular fixture in diaries for those working in the housebuilding sector. We thank everyone for supporting us, celebrating with us and we look forward to the next decade of housebuilder quizzes.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ward Hadaway .