With the 2025 WhatHouse? Awards just around the corner, Rory Wilkinson, digital editor of Show House, spoke to Krisa Montgomery, housebuilding team leader at Tobermore, to find out more about the company and what drew them to sponsor the Awards.
Tell us a little about Tobermore and your role at the company
I’m Krisa Montgomery, Housebuilding Team Leader at Tobermore, with responsibility for forging strong relationships with housebuilders across the UK & Ireland. Tobermore is a hard landscaping manufacturer founded in 1942, offering paving, walling, kerbs, masonry, and sustainable solutions like SuDS-compliant permeable paving.
We aim to deliver both aesthetics and performance, supporting clients through technical design, reliable supply, installation guidance and aftercare. My role is to ensure Tobermore solutions help our housebuilder customers build homes that look exceptional, stand the test of time and stay on budget.
What role does Tobermore play in the housebuilding industry, and how does it support developers?
Tobermore plays a dual role: we provide both the raw materials and the expert support housebuilders need. Our broad product range – paving, walling, kerbs, and sustainable external landscaping – ensures that developers can get both functional infrastructure and attractive external finishes from one trusted source.
Beyond the product, we offer technical support, hard landscape proposals, sample services and installation guidance, helping developers avoid cost overruns, specification changes or value engineering that undermines their original design ambition. Our recent investment in capacity and technical design staff underlines our commitment to delivering reliability and quality at scale.
What was it that attracted you to sponsoring the WhatHouse? Awards?
Sponsoring the WhatHouse? Awards appealed to us because they are among the most prestigious in new homes development – sometimes called “the Oscars” of the housebuilding sector. For Tobermore, sponsorship aligns with our mission to promote excellence in external landscaping and build a stronger reputation among housebuilders, architects and contractors.
It enables us to connect directly with industry leaders, showcase exemplary projects where good hard landscaping makes a difference and reinforce our role as a partner committed to quality, innovation and sustainability in the built environment.
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How important are the WhatHouse? Awards to the housebuilding industry?
The WhatHouse? Awards carry significant weight in the industry. They serve as both benchmark and recognition for quality, design, customer satisfaction and innovation in new homes. Winning or even being shortlisted helps housebuilders differentiate themselves in a crowded market, strengthen credibility with buyers and often support stronger sales and marketing outcomes.
The Awards also elevate standards: developers see what is possible in design, landscaping, sustainability and build quality, which influences competitors and the wider supply chain to improve. In short, they help elevate the entire industry.
What is your favourite part of attending the WhatHouse? Awards?
For me, the most rewarding part is seeing examples of what housebuilders, architects, and their suppliers achieve when design, construction and customer care come together at their best. It’s inspiring to see beautiful exteriors, thoughtful landscaping and sustainability solutions in action, with hard landscaping that truly complements the homes.
The Awards also offer an excellent opportunity to connect with peers, learn from best practices and exchange ideas about material performance, innovation, and external design. It’s a chance for Tobermore to both celebrate and be challenged to keep raising standards.
What does the future hold for Tobermore, and how does sponsoring the Awards support that?
Looking ahead, Tobermore is focused on scaling our capacity, deepening our technical and support services and pushing sustainability and innovation in external landscaping. We’re investing in production, people and design tools to support the rising demand from housebuilders who want both aesthetics and performance.
Sponsorship of the WhatHouse? Awards helps us in several ways: it reinforces Tobermore’s brand as a quality partner, gives us visibility among decision-makers in housebuilding and anchors us in the conversation around excellence and innovation.
Through that exposure, we strengthen our ability to influence specification, build long-term relationships and ensure our products remain top-of-mind when housebuilders strive for award-winning quality.
