NooKo named Developer of the Year at the Insider South West Property Awards 2026

NooKo has been named Developer of the Year at the Insider South West Property Awards 2026. The award was announced at the Harbour Hotel in Bristol on Thursday 1 October.

The category, sponsored by RED South West, put NooKo alongside Cubex, Stoford Developments with EDC, and StudioHIVE, all established names working across the region. For a small group of friends with big ambitions, taking the title is a proud moment.

Giving Exeter’s old buildings a future

The award recognises a run of work centred on Exeter’s historic buildings.

Paternoster House, the city’s first department store, reopened in 2025 as 29 apartments with 9,000 sq ft of commercial space, now home to Vyve and Søstrene Grene. It won Heritage Project of the Year at the Michelmores Property Awards 2025 and an Exeter Sustainability Award.

Work is now under way on the Royal Clarence on Cathedral Green. The restoration began on site in January 2026, ten years after the fire, and will create 25 apartments above commercial space. Completion is expected in December 2027.

A word from Max

“This one means a lot because of who else was on the list,” said Max Sayers, co founder of NooKo. “We are a small group of friends with big ambitions, working on difficult old buildings, so to be recognised across the whole of the South West says something about what that approach can do. The credit belongs to everyone on site.”

Thank you

Thank you to Insider Media, to RED South West for sponsoring the category, and to the contractors, consultants, residents and tenants who have been part of these projects.

Follow progress at the Royal Clarence on Facebook and Instagram.