Our work on Woodland View School in East Dunbartonshire is a prime example of delivering social value in construction, with the project benefiting both the surrounding community and local economy.
While the ultimate goal of the project was to create a state-of-the-art learning facility for pupils with a broad range of additional support needs, we also saw an opportunity to generate meaningful and lasting social value.
Providing this added value for communities and society is at the heart of our responsible business strategy. It’s central to every project we deliver and is integral in our work.
From the outset of Woodland View School, we created a plan to maximise the social value we could deliver.
This included exploring how we could drive employment creation, support SMEs, and provide apprenticeship and training opportunities.
We’re proud to say we delivered on our objectives, with the project generating comprehensive social impact throughout the construction period.
Building Futures
Through all our schemes, we create a range of learning opportunities to help people forge successful career pathways. We deliver this activity through Building Futures – one of our five social value pillars.
Woodland View School is a great example of this in action. Indeed, a wealth of initiatives, events and placements were delivered to educate and inform the construction professionals of tomorrow.
This included youth employability programmes, a construction taster day, work experience provision, and STEM curriculum support sessions.
On top of this, the project facilitated a six-month work placement for a Foundation Apprentice in Civil Engineering. It also led to a student transitioning to our YourFuture Graduate Scheme after completing a placement on site.
Employment creation and upskilling
Wherever we’re working in the UK, we liaise closely with our partners to create local employment opportunities. At the same time, we proactively seek to develop the skills and awareness of our employees to tackle health inequalities and support the most vulnerable in our communities.
Throughout the project, we created and sustained 124 local jobs, delivering a tangible social impact to the area.
We also delivered a number of initiatives focusing on wellbeing, diversity and inclusion. These comprised neurodiversity management training for four employees, 112 labour practice audits, three financial and wellbeing advice workshops, a 15-week training programme centred on upskilling, and the delivery of a construction programme across Scotland in partnership with Women in Property.
Being a good employer is a key part of our responsible business strategy and underpins the social value we deliver.
Benefiting the local economy
We’re committed to procuring locally and ethically wherever we can. This generates shared prosperity in the communities where we work and helps to maximise social impact.
On this project, over 80% of the labour and over 75% of our spend with the supply chain came from within a 20-mile radius.
This was further enhanced by our social enterprise commitments on the project. Across a number of initiatives, our social enterprise spend topped £73,000 and included projects with Community Wood Recycling and a cleaning business which supports individuals in breaking down employment barriers.
Elsewhere, we boosted economic equity by supporting the local supply chain and SMEs. In total, 85% of our spend was with SMEs, and we also held a ‘Meet the Buyer’ event to connect local businesses directly with our buyers.
Delivering lasting social impact
We actively support communities with the greatest need through our YouMatter Communities Scheme to deliver lasting social value in construction.
Throughout the delivery of the project, we participated in a range of activities to aid charities and organisations in their efforts to tackle local challenges.
This included the collection and delivery of Christmas hampers for individuals residing in temporary accommodation; a sponsored charity walk to support Action for Children; over 100 hours of volunteering; and numerous initiatives with local education providers.
All of this work contributed to fostering healthy and resilient communities in East Dunbartonshire, giving those who needed it most a springboard to a brighter future.