Cotswold Homes sales consultant Annie King Sharp presents Southside Star Football Club’s coach Chris Peach with the first of the new training jackets.

With all eyes on the World Cup this month, a housebuilder constructing new homes in Cheltenham is taking a close interest in footballers closer to home.

Cotswold Homes Ltd, whose All Sold sign went up on its Cotswold Grange development in Hatherley’s Alma Road within weeks, has celebrated its success by sponsoring brand new training kit for players at the nearby Southside Star Football Club.

Senior and junior teams will be seen in their new kit this season, reports the club’s coach Chris Peach. ‘It will do a lot for the image of Southside Star which currently is seeking new players,’ he said.

Support for the local communities in which it builds is a hallmark of the Cotswold Homes approach. The company donated much-needed mowers and shears to the nearby allotment-holders who were struggling to stop the grass growing under their feet. It also helped the 1st Hatherley Scout Group to buy the first of three new ridge tents needed to replace old ones.

‘Clearly our work with local communities does a lot to raise awareness of the new homes we create for them,’ says Terri Hayes-Pugh, head of sales and marketing at Cotswold Homes.

The firm prides itself on the fact that, when it quotes a purchase price, there are never any hidden extras. This policy played a significant role in its success selling homes at Cotswold Grange to local young families and downsizing older couples.

'Popular features like our open-plan kitchen-dining suites, planned to maximise the use of space and natural light, have proved to be winners, too,' reports Terri.

She added: ‘I’m not surprised by the success of our Hatherley development. Thanks to our building specifications and thoughtfully-planned layouts we were inundated with interest from would-be buyers from the moment we unveiled our plans.’