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Governance

We will act responsibly and lead by example

Strong leadership and commitment from the Board, together with a robust corporate governance framework, promotes accountability and ethical business practice across all activities. We will make no compromises on safety as we focus on achieving our objectives. These values and behaviours extend to dealings with our supply chain and partnerships.

SDGs

Link to corporate values

  • Safety first

  • Our people
    are our greatest asset

Focus area: strong governance structure

In recognition of the importance and breadth of ESG matters, and in line with our commitment to embed sustainability within all areas of the business, we have established a Governance and Risk Committee with delegated authority to oversee delivery in the short term. The Board recognises that as work in this area develops, a separate committee focused solely on this area may be needed and will review this need in the year ahead. An ESG management group and cross-departmental working parties are responsible for developing the strategy and its implementation.

Focus area: health and safety

Making no compromises on safety is one of our key values. The safety culture is driven by strong leadership from the top down. Each employee is empowered to intervene to reduce risk and prevent injury or harm.

We seek to recruit the best quality staff with a wealth of experience from across the residential construction sector and this is reflected in the standards on site. We also hold a strong belief in investment in people, promoting individuals and providing support for their career progression.

Objective 2020/21 performance Priorities for the year ahead
Make no compromises on safety
  • 60% reduction in total accidents compared to the previous reporting year
  • Accident Frequency Rate of 0.16
  • Implemented a robust homeworking and hybrid-working policy to ensure staff can be flexible in their working arrangements, while providing the appropriate health and safety support
  • Reinstate our annual safety conferences in early 2022. These conferences reinforce safety messages and enable staff to test and challenge current working procedures, embrace new technology and be at the centre of the decision-making process for future improvements

Focus area: ethical standards and values

Our commitment is to lead by example, ensuring that we set ethical business practices that extend to our dealings with our supply chain and subcontractors. These practices are subject to ongoing review to ensure best practice across our operations.

Objective 2020/21 performance Priorities for the year ahead
Ensure a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery, both in our business operations and across our supply chain
  • Formalised our process for ensuring subcontractors are not engaged with modern slavery or labour exploitation practices. The process is documented within the Standard Operating Procedures which forms part of the Quality Management System (QMS) process. It allows us to understand our supply chain, where it sources its labour from and how that labour is treated
  • Heat-mapping exercise underway to trace where the products we install are sourced from and identify if any of those products trace back to known modern slavery hot spots
  • Agreement signed with Construction Line who will provide us with access to their subcontractor verification platform. With the changes to our procurement process through the QMS, approximately 90% of our subcontractors will be members of Construction Line
  • Implement the agreement with Construction Line to roll-out the subcontractor verification process and extend this to members of our supply chain over the year ahead
  • Roll-out a modern slavery awareness package to staff. This includes training, visual awareness (digital and on site), induction package and Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) card check, and ongoing monitoring
  • Finalise and implement a formal process to confirm labour agencies we work with have formal processes in place to combat modern slavery and labour exploitation