A family-owned Caithness company and one of its employees are celebrating success with a prestigious business award.

Bower-based windows, doors and timber frame house kits manufacturer Norscot recently received accolades in the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), Best of the Best Awards. These awards are a celebration of the best partnerships between businesses, academics and qualified graduates.

Norscot’s KTP associate Carla Resendiz Villaseñor was awarded the Future Leader Award for her outstanding work on the WellBe Homes by Norscot in partnership with Teesside University.

This award celebrates KTP Associates who have demonstrated outstanding leadership skills.

On receiving the exciting news that she was one of the winners, Carla said: “I am delighted to have been announced as one of the winners of such a prestigious award.

"The highlight of this project has been being able to work together with the public to ensure we are meeting their needs and wants through this project. I would like to thank everyone who has taken part in my research, including the Caithness Disabled Access Panel, my colleagues at Norscot and the team at Teesside University. It has been such a great opportunity to get to research something so close to my heart and I can’t wait to see what happens in the future.”

The aim of the WellBe Project is to bring together academic knowledge and industry experience to create a whole new range of timber frame house kits for self-builders that can adapt to people’s needs as they age. In the future, the project is expected to help reduce costs for the NHS and also improve social connections and service provisions, especially in rural locations.

As is implied by the name, the range of homes prioritises wellbeing; offering accessibility, storage, plenty of natural light and easy contact with the outdoors. Strategically placed reinforced walls and ceiling structures allow the home to be adapted to suit as lifestyles change.

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Farzad Rahimian, KTP academic supervisor from Teesside University, said: “I am so pleased that Carla Reséndiz Villaseñor has received the Future Leader Award from Innovate UK. It is a very prestigious award for the team and Teesside University.”

Norscot technical director, Jason Fraser added: “The team at Norscot is delighted Carla has been named one of the winners of this highly regarded award. This reinforces the importance of our WellBe Homes by Norscot project on the future of housing where people are able to adapt their self-built home to suit their lifestyle as they age. The work begins now to bring these homes to market soon.”

There are currently four designs on offer and to find out more please visit the Noscot website at www.norscotkits.co.uk/wellbe-homes

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