Social value

social-value-hero

Reimagining places for people to thrive

Social value is a golden thread that runs throughout our business. We believe that giving opportunities for people to thrive is just as important as new buildings and infrastructure.

Our Social Value Strategy

We care about the good we as a business can do for the economy, for our communities, and for society. Launched in 2020, our five-year social value strategy has focuses on three key themes:  

CHALLENGING INEQUALITY

Helping those furthest from the workforce

We want to change people’s lives for the better, and support those who face barriers to work – like people who’ve been through the criminal justice system, and ex-service people. Our Residential, FM and Developments businesses are accredited with the Living Wage Foundation to champion the real Living Wage.

INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION

Inspiring and educating young people about this sector

We want to diversify and widen our talent pool, and for more young people to discover the brilliant careers in the built environment. We’ve engaged 80,000 young people since 2020 and hope to reach 100,000 by 2025. We run education outreach programmes to young people from primary school through to college, supporting them to raise aspirations, develop their potential and learn about the working world through assemblies and workshops in school, work experience, including T-Level placements, and a summer programme.

SUPPORTING THRIVING COMMUNITIES

Supporting and scaling up social enterprises

Social enterprises are businesses that reinvest their profits into delivering social or environmental purpose. We have spent over £31m with social enterprises since 2020 and are targeting £45m by 2025. Through our ASSETS programme Wates employees support social enterprises to scale, mentoring them to develop and grow their businesses. We’re a founding partner of the Buy Social Corporate Challenge, a consortium of businesses who together want to spend £1bn with social enterprises by 2026.

APPLY TODAY

Interested in a Social Value job at Wates?

Head of Sustainability – Residential

Location: London NW1

Job Type: SHEQ

Application Deadline: 08-10-2024

Wates Group is seeking a Head of Sustainability to join our Residential team. As a developer contractor, Wates Residential invests, develops, builds, and sells quality affordable homes through contracting and partnerships with Local Authorities, Housing Associations, and public bodies such as Homes England.Reporting into our Development Director, the Head of Sustainability will lead the delivery of a strategy to make Wates Residential the industry leader in developing and delivering sustainable homes.As our Head of Sustainability, you will: Continue to refine and deliver the Environmental Sustainability Plan for Wates Residential to transform the business into a market leader for delivering sustainable homes. Identify and collaborate with existing and potential customers for Wates Residential that have high sustainability ambitions and whose built environment needs fit with the corporate strategy. Collaborate with the business development and Group Sustainability teams to devise credible strategies to win work. Positively challenge and influence every part of Wates Residential to ensure environmental sustainability becomes an integral part of decision making by regions, project teams and functions. Work closely with the bid team to create and lead the sustainability response, working with experts externally and across the Group to create and deliver innovative solutions that will be compelling for clients & partners in delivering their own sustainability ambitions. Take ownership of the Wates Residential performance against Group environmental strategy and targets and drive change at business unit, project, and individual level. Build, motivate and optimise a high-performance team to drive environmental performance improvement and support the delivery of our strategic goals. Work with the Group Sustainability and Residential leadership to define environmental personal performance objectives for senior leaders to cascade down through their teams and clarify throughout the business the change required each year to deliver our strategy.The ideal candidate should exhibit strategic thinking for future business growth, and the ability to shape an inclusive, value-driven culture. You should excel in managing multiple complex issues, demonstrate creative and inclusive leadership, prioritise effectively, be team-focused, and possess excellent communication skills aligned with our purpose and operating framework.What we offer: Competitive salary & profit share scheme Car allowance/company car Flexible working Travel covered to any of our sites (subject to HMRC advisory rates) Extensive corporate benefits including, private medical, 8% employers’ pension contribution, Health and Wellness programme, 26 days holidays + bank holidays and much more… One of the best learning and development programmes in the sector, customizable to support your career progression goals. (c.7000 training sessions delivered year to date across the Wates Group) Industry leading family leave benefits to included 26 weeks fully paid maternity, 12 weeks fully paid paternity.

Senior Sustainability Advisor

Location: Birmingham

Job Type: SHEQ

Application Deadline: 18-09-2024

SENIOR SUSTAINABILITY ADVISOR Wates are seeking a talented Senior Sustainability Advisor to play a key role in delivering the Wates Group Environmental Sustainability Plan by identifying energy and carbon hot spots, driving improvements, and implementing initiatives across the Wates Group portfolio that will result in carbon emissions reduction. The role holder will also support annual reporting on our carbon and energy performance.The successful candidate will engage with our projects and supply chain to reduce our carbon emissions in line with our science-based targets. This will involve working with our supply chain partners to identify new low carbon solutions, produce EPDs and set science-based targets. The role will also be responsible for producing awareness campaign materials, undertaking audits, and providing costed recommendations to drive carbon emissions reductions.Other Sustainability and Environmental Professionals will support the role to conduct compliance audits and report into the Head of Energy and CarbonThis is a fantastic opportunity to progress your career as part of a talented, diverse, and supportive team.AS OUR SENIOR SUSTAINABILITY ADVISOR YOU WILL: Conducting energy, carbon and environmental audits and inspections on our construction sites and with Providing support and guidance to projects and departments on environment and sustainability matters Liaison with procurement, Supply Chain, and commercial teams to engage our supply chain and drive carbon reduction measures with a focus on SBTi supplier target. Reporting and measuring our environmental impact of projects and Business Units with a particular focus on carbon and energy reporting for SBTi published targets.The successful applicant will have a working knowledge of international standards such as ISO 14001, ISO 50001, BS EN 16247 and application of Environmental Management Systems, and an understanding of carbon accounting, SBTi and GHG protocol and be able to translate these into practical sustainability solutions that can be implemented by projects. You will be Degree qualified in Environmental Science or Management, Engineering (construction related), or Architecture (or equivalent), and ideally a Graduate Member of a relevant professional body (ICE, IEMA, CIWM, IOA, ICE, CIBSE).This role can be based in either the London or Midlands with some travel and is a mix of office and site based.WHAT WE OFFER Competitive salary & bonus Flexible working Travel covered to any of our sites (subject to HMRC advisory rates) Extensive corporate benefits including, Private Medical, Pension 8% employers’ contribution, Health and Wellness programme, 26 days holidays + bank holidays and much more… Excellent range of learning and development activity to support your career progression. Industry leading family leave benefits to included 26 weeks fully paid maternity, 8 weeks fully paid paternity. To find out more about LIFE AT WATES please click on the following link https://www.wates.co.uk/careers/

Senior Sustainability & Environment Advisor

Location: London NW1

Job Type: SHEQ

Application Deadline: 23-09-2024

Wates are looking for a Senior Sustainability and Environment Advisor to join our London Construction Team focussing on high profile, technically complex projects across multiple sectors.If you are passionate about construction with proven technical skills looking for an opportunity to challenge the norm, bring fresh new ideas and elevate yourself within the industry then join us and help to create tomorrow together.This is a great opportunity to progress your career as part of a talented, diverse, and supportive team.ABOUT THE ROLEOur Senior Sustainability and Environment Advisors are a valuable part of our onsite teams, driving our sustainability agenda and ensuring that our projects meet the highest environmental standards. You will work closely with project teams, clients, and stakeholders to develop and implement sustainable practices that align with Wates Group’s core values and strategic objectives.AS OUR SENIOR SUSTAINABILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISOR YOU WILL: Develop, implement, and monitor sustainability strategies across multiple construction projects, ensuring alignment with Wates Group’s environmental goals. Collaborate with clients, subcontractors, and internal teams to promote sustainable construction practices. Facilitate environmental awareness training and workshops. Ensure all projects comply with relevant environmental legislation, regulations, and industry standards. Provide guidance and support to project teams on environmental best practices. Promote environmental best practice to current standards (ISO 14001, BREEAM, Well, NABERS, PAS 2080 or similar), establish best practice and implement strategies, plans, processes and standards by working closely with the design, procurement, delivery and customer teams. Manage the external environmental consultants. Hold regular Principals Calls/Meetings with our consultants to track progress and any issues. Measure, share and seek improvements in performance using our Key Performance Indicator (KPI) outputs.WHAT WE OFFER Competitive salary & bonus Flexible working Car Allowance / Company Car (subject to Role/Grade) Travel covered to any of our sites (subject to HMRC advisory rates) Extensive corporate benefits including, Private Medical, Pension 8% employers’ contribution, Health and Wellness programme, 26 days holidays + bank holidays and much more… Excellent range of learning and development activity to support your career progression. Industry leading family leave benefits to included 26 weeks fully paid maternity, 12 weeks fully paid paternity. To find out more about LIFE AT WATES please click on the following link https://www.wates.co.uk/careers/