James Wylie Building & Joinery came up trumps at the 2023 Northern Ireland Federation of Master Builder Awards when taking home not one but two prestigious awards on the night. Building Ireland caught up with James to gauge his reaction and find out more about his award-winning contracting company, which has been setting industry-leading standards for 15 years and counting.
It was a night to remember for James Wylie at the Northern Ireland Federation of Master Builder Awards in Belfast’s Malone Hotel on Friday, June 30th as the brilliant Ballymena builder scooped two major awards – Heavenly Builder of the Year and Small Renovation Project of the Year.
James Wylie Building & Joinery has been consistently delivering client-focused construction excellence since its inception in 2008. The hands-on, eponymous proprietor always works to the most exacting standards and he was humbled to be recognised by his peers in the Federation of Master Builders:
“To be honest, I haven’t had much time to think about it as I’ve been very busy ever since,” the amiable Antrim man commented when we touched base with him a few weeks after the event. “It’s all go here so I don’t have time to dwell on these things.
“Having said that, it’s nice to get the recognition. I wouldn’t be used to going to events like this but I decided at the last minute to go and it was a great night. I prefer to keep my head down and concentrate on the work.”
It shows. Not just in the award-winning projects but in every single new build, extension or renovation that James turns his hand to. While the company was only established in ’08, James Wylie has been working in construction since the turn of the millennium and has earned a stellar reputation not just for quality workmanship (which, let’s face it, is a given into today’s environment) but also for always remaining on good terms with the client through every stage of the process (and often thereafter).
“We always leave tidy work behind us,” he confirms. “Once you finish the job on good terms with the client and you know the client is happy with the finished product, then that’s a success. A bad job is never forgotten, so you have to keep the standards up all the time and make sure that every project is as good as the previous one, if not better. In building, you are always looking to improve. Consistency is key and keeping the standards up.”
This, of course, leads to repeat business and positive referrals through word of mouth – the lifeblood of any building contracting company. In winning the Heavenly Builder of the Year award (with the judges highly impressed by his unswerving commitment to customer service and high standards of workmanship), James was nominated by a client who, after availing of his service for a series of smaller jobs, was sufficiently impressed by his work to ask him to construct a new house for her.
Despite changing her mind on design choices several times during the build process, the client was relieved to find that James remained calm, responsive and positive throughout. She found him fair and transparent with regard to his pricing from the outset, and managed a team of experienced, professional tradesmen very effectively. Despite numerous alterations to the original plans, the James Wylie Building & Joinery team nevertheless delivered the new home within budget and very much to their client’s liking.
For the award-winning Small Renovation Project of the Year, meanwhile, James Wylie Building & Joinery completed a fantastic kitchen extension / renovation in Ballyclare, introducing an abundance of space and light where the client can cook, dine and socialise with family and friends. A well-positioned roof lantern now illuminates the kitchen, and clever use of artificial lighting along with a unique bulkhead over the kitchen island making the whole space appear much larger than it really is.
The project, which involved removing a gable wall and extending the property outwards, was not without its engineering challenges, but James and his team worked well with a structural engineer and the architect to ensure it was delivered without issue. The client was impressed by the positive approach to problem-solving and, crucially, was able to live in the property throughout the build process. The judges loved the high standard of workmanship displayed throughout the project and complimented the builder on his approach to solving the technical challenges as they presented themselves.
James Wylie Building & Joinery is a well-established construction company based in the Ballymena area and with an excellent track record in delivering a wide range of projects across the residential, commercial and industrial sectors, covering everything from new builds houses, extensions and renovations to new kitchens and loft and garage conversions.
Strong relationships are built through an enthusiastic and professional approach, with a personal touch guaranteed and completed projects invariably exceeding client expectations.
A carpenter by trade, James started out working on small joinery jobs before turning his attention to general contracting and building the company up gradually as his reputation for excellence spread both near and far.
“Most of our work is local in the Ballymena / Ballyclare area but we cover all over Northern Ireland and will go wherever the work is,” he states. “We’re actually on site in Belfast at the moment, working on a new build house.
“We can build literally any size or style of home and to ensure that we achieve the highest quality, we will normally only take on a maximum of two new houses at a time and then do the extensions, loft conversions and smaller stuff around that.”
Very much a hands-on director, James uses a tight directly-employed in-house team of three alongside an extended crew of tried and trusted subcontractors – tradesmen he knows he can trust to keep producing the high standard of workmanship for which James Wylie Building & Joinery is renowned.
The Federation of Master Builders awards recognise excellence in Northern Ireland’s small and medium-sized construction companies. The fact that James Wylie Building & Joinery was recognised on the double in 2023 speaks volumes for the heights the company is reaching and one gets the definite impression that there’s much more to come from this award-winning building contractor!
James Wylie Building & Joinery,
20 Skerdan Road,
Ballymena,
County Antrim.
Tel: 028 258 22502
Mobile: 07929 496 575
Email: [email protected]
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, December 2023, Vol 9 No 12
