Willmott Dixon's impact and contribution to society has again been rated highly in Business in the Community’s (BITC) Corporate Responsibility (CR) Index.

The UK’s second largest privately-owned capital works, regeneration and support services company scored 93% in the rankings to give it gold status, just three percentage points below platinum. This latest result also shows a year-on-year improvement by Willmott Dixon, which achieved 80% in 2009 and 91% for 2010.

The company scored full marks in two of the five areas measured by the index: Corporate Strategy and Disclosure, with a further 99% in the category of Management, 96% in Integration and 85% in Impact Areas.

There are five standards, bronze, silver, gold, platinum and platinum plus and Willmott Dixon also performed well against its benchmarking comparators which included other construction and property companies.

Developed in consultation with businesses, the CR Index challenges and supports large organisations to integrate responsible business practices. BITC says, “Companies that achieve Gold are able to demonstrate openness and transparency through effective public reporting of their environmental and social issues, corporate responsibility programmes and performance.

“They also expand and adapt their risk management processes by incorporating relevant aspects of corporate responsibility risk and opportunity, and their strategy is articulated in an effective manner, including clear and measurable targets.”

Rick Willmott, Group Chief Executive at Willmott Dixon, said: “BITC has really focused Willmott Dixon’s determination to ensure we achieve continuous improvement in arguably the country’s most recognised index to measure industry’s performance within the community. Working with BITC helps us manage, measure and report on our impacts in society and on the environment generally, and is the benchmark for how we enhance our role.

“One such improvement is the launch this year of the Willmott Dixon Foundation which will be the vehicle through which we continue to focus our efforts on helping local communities grow and thrive through supporting local initiatives, providing skills training and generating job opportunities.”

Willmott Dixon’s performance in detail: