The owner of a Derby building firm is set to help make dreams come true working with Nick Knowles on the next series of DIY SOS: The Big Build. Ian Hodgkinson, founder and managing director of Pride Park-based Hodgkinson Builders, will be the new project manager on the show, which has been running on the BBC for more than 20 years.
Nick Knowles said: “Ian has been a brilliant friend of DIY SOS for 20 years, bringing teams of volunteer bricklayers to help us out on many occasions. He’s a brilliant project manager and I’m looking forward to working closely with him on coming SOS builds.”
Ian will work alongside familiar faces including Chris Frediani, Billy Byrne and designer Gabrielle Blackman, managing on-site tradespeople and overseeing new projects. He has already contributed to previous series of DIY SOS and the latest news comes on the back of starring with his construction team in Brickies – a BBC fly-on-the-wall documentary recently shortlisted for a Broadcast Award.
The first episode, due to be filmed in July, will see the team transform a dilapidated building in Wallsend, North Tyneside, into a performing arts school for 500 children and young adults, many of whom have learning needs.
Ian said: “When I was approached to become the show’s new Project Manager, I could not believe it. It’s a fantastic opportunity and it genuinely is a dream come true to help communities and deserving causes.
“Just like with the Brickies series, I am looking forward to highlighting the benefits of working in the building trade, in the hope that more young apprentices will want to make a career out of it.
“I’m really looking forward to working with Nick again. He’s a great guy to work with, a genuine bloke. What you see on TV is what you get in real life. I first met him two decades ago, and thankfully we’ve always stayed in touch.”
Hodgkinson Builders was launched in 1990 in Ian’s hometown of Ilkeston and specialises in residential developments.
