Carina works her way up from marketing assistant to director at Vistry

The newly-appointed director spoke about her career progression within the housebuilding company earlier this month.

Carina, who initially joined Bovis Homes in 2012 as a marketing assistant, was promoted into her new role at Vistry North Central Midlands, based in Stafford, on March 4. Vistry Group was formed in 2020 and includes Bovis Homes, Linden Homes and Countryside Homes.

Carina said: “I think I am a pretty good example of how a woman can join a progressive company and rise up the ranks through sheer hard work and the confidence to take advantage of the opportunities on offer. It was great timing that I took over my new role 24 hours after Women in Construction Week began and four days before International Women’s Day.

“My message to any woman thinking about joining the construction industry is to jump right in because, like me, you can have a fulfilling career. It used to be viewed as a male-dominated industry but times have changed and women can, and do, flourish in the business.”

Carina, who lives in Tamworth, joined Bovis Homes as a marketing assistant 12 years ago and was promoted to marketing manager within six months.

“Previously in my career, I had been working as a personal assistant for nearly 20 years before I switched to the marketing sector, as I felt I needed a change of direction,” said Carina. “The world of marketing appealed to me because I was good at, and enjoyed, analysing information and interpreting it to gain results.

“In my role in the marketing department at Bovis Homes, I liaised closely with sales people and I grew more interested in the sales world and how we could make sure the company thrived by selling more of the top-quality homes it builds. I was supported by the company when I wanted to switch disciplines and was appointed area sales manager in 2017.

“This was another change in direction but I had the desire to succeed and was hungry to learn as much as I could about the role. I wanted to drill down into exactly why some leads were not turning into sales and to revisit the details and understand what we could do better next time in that same situation.

“What I really enjoyed was being able to get out there onto the developments and to actually see the houses and meet the sales advisors and site teams. Nothing beats being out there on the sites and it also gave me the chance to talk to customers about how they see things. It is vitally important to hear their views.”

As regional sales and marketing director at Vistry North Central Midlands, Carina is in charge of a team selling homes at developments in Staffordshire, Shropshire, Cheshire, Nottinghamshire and South Derbyshire.

“My role is to support and lead the team to make sure we achieve the targets we have set for sales, exchanges and completions, both in numbers and in timescale. We need to do all of this while maintaining our excellent level of customer satisfaction, which is always paramount.

“I love my job and I love working for Vistry. I have been lucky to have Lynton Dudgeon as a mentor and his advice and guidance on our daily 5pm phone calls has been invaluable to me and enabled me to step into his former role, now that he has been promoted too.”

Lynton, who is now Vistry Group area sales director, said: “From day one, it was obvious that Carina was destined to go far because her attitude was first class, she had great interpersonal skills and was incredibly keen to learn everything she could about the role she had been given.

“Her enthusiasm and drive ensure that she leads her team by example. I was delighted to be able to help her progress in her career, which has been greatly enhanced by all the skills and knowledge she has acquired by working in both marketing and sales.

“Carina has done remarkably well in all she has done so far at this company and I fully expect her to excel in the role she has taken over from me.”

To find out about careers at Vistry Group, visit vistrycareers.co.uk