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Winner
Countryside Properties
Countryside is unique. Not because it is one of the few firms on the FTSE4Good index and is one of The Sunday Times' 100 best British companies to work for, or because it has an eight-stage customer satisfaction process, or designs every home to a minimum BREEAM rating of "very good". It is unique because it showed John Prescott the kind of housing he was trying to persuade other firms to build. Here are the deputy prime minister's comments upon seeing its New Hall development in Harlow, Essex. "I think you have got the wow factor here. I'm absolutely delighted … to be associated with something of quality. I've got a vision now. I've just seen it." Countryside has become the housebuilder of choice for the communities planned for South-east, and this is very likely to pay spectacular dividends in the future.

'Excellent service; staff were helpful and pleasant, and tradesmen were all very professional'

RUNNERS-UP
Linden Holdings
The second best housebuilder in Britain didn't exist in 1990. It has survived various financial upheavals, including a stock listing and a buyout, to become one of the best respected firms in the sector. Its strengths are that it is willing to tackle complex urban sites and conduct complex negotiations with multiple stakeholders. To carry out this business strategy successfully requires top quality management. Linden looks for ideas from everywhere from South Korea to Las Vegas, and this gets incorporated into the product in the form of underfloor heating, studios over garages, central vacuuming systems, Pilkington K glass in windows and central locking systems. The customers seem to appreciate all this effort: Linden's profit has risen almost 80% over the past three years.

'Friendliness of sales staff and site workers: 10 out of 10'

KingsOak Homes
KingsOak is one of the fastest growing housebuilders in the country. It is a subsidiary of Barratt, a major housebuilder that made the shortlist in its sector, and it specialises in everything from £95,000 starter homes to £650,000 custom-designed single houses. How many of its rivals have a partnering relationships with its supply chain in which both parties formally mark each other? And how many young firms would have the confidence to tackle the Bear Wharf scheme, a block of 77 flats designed by Robert Adam in one of the most historic areas of Reading, and to turn it into a huge commercial and critical success?

'Excellent process from start to finish, all acted on promptly and courteously'

St George
St George has developed a semi-legendary status among British housebuilder–developers: one of the principal sources of satisfaction for the other shortlisted firms will be that they managed to finish above this outfit. Particularly as 2003 was a pretty good year for St George: they were involved in the massive 8 million ft² redevelopment of Paddington Square in west London and the enormous St George's Wharf scheme in east London. And this last project gives you an idea of the kind of challenges this firm is willing to take on: a Housing Forum demonstration project that involved the frightening requirement of working around a London Underground line, as well as tougher environmental standards than you would find on most sites in the country.

'We bought off plan 20 months earlier, then moved in on the week promised. The customer service staff have been superb'