Our Careers Target
Supporting people into good careers is a key element of Now or Never. Our aim is to have a deeper, more meaningful impact on the people we connect with. Our careers target focuses on helping people furthest from employment and who face barriers to work to develop good careers, in our business, in our supply chain and in wider industry.
In 2023, we supported over 5,000 people through one of our social value programmes. 90% of the people we supported have told us our programmes had a high impact on their lives. 55 people received further support that helped them on the path to get a good job, which they wouldn’t have got without our support. This section reviews our activities to support our Now or Never ambition to help more than 1,000 people into sustainable careers by 2030.
Building Lives Academies
Our Building Lives Academies give participants the opportunity to learn construction skills and gain hands-on work experience, as well as support with CV writing, job hunting and interview practice to help them find work.
The Building Lives Academy framework allows us to have a standard approach that we can flex to suit different demographics and locations depending on the needs of the community we are working in.
Supporting the Long Term Unemployed
As a signatory of the Social Mobility Pledge upskilling and reskilling local people to improve their social mobility is a key to the positive lasting legacy we want to leave for the communities around our projects.
At the Kingshurst Village Centre regeneration project in Solihull, we set up a Building Lives Academy to deliver construction training to local people. Delivered in collaboration with the West Midlands Combined Authority, Kingshurst Construction Training Hub gave residents the chance to benefit from short training courses focusing on either groundworks or brickwork with the aim of opening the door to future employment in the industry, with participants receiving a Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) card and a guaranteed interview to put their new skills into practice.
Solihull resident Nathan Smith completed the groundwork course and secured employment with our local training provider, RMF.
Nathan said: “The skills and experience I have gained has been the foot in the door I needed into the construction industry. I still have plenty to learn but this course has given me the confidence to take the next step and find my own career path within the industry.”
Cllr Sharon Thompson, deputy leader of Birmingham City Council, said: “Not only is it great to see this derelict site in the heart of Birmingham finally being regenerated, but also to see that our residents will benefit from construction projects and opportunities in their area.”
We also collaborate with our supply chain partners to create opportunities. At our Spindles Project in Oldham, local resident, Nur (above centre), who had been out of work, took full advantage of an opportunity to work on site with supply chain partner Imtech.
Philip Boyham (above right), Senior Contracts Manager at Imtech Engineering Services, said: “Nur's story has the making of a real success story. His hard work and attitude are admirable, not only will this affect his employability but will pave the way for other long term unemployed.”
Supporting prison communities
In 2023, Willmott Dixon has launched its first Midlands-based Drylining Academy at HMP Lincoln. The scheme is designed to reduce the likelihood of reoffending within the Lincolnshire community.
HMP Lincoln is the fourth Drylining Academy launched by Willmott Dixon, having seen success at HMP Elmley, HMP Belmarsh and HMP Cardiff. These academies upskill prisoners to NVQ Level 2, with Willmott Dixon and Drylining partners providing technical support and materials as well as offering advice and employment opportunities. We also provide employability advice to prisoners to help them into work when they leave custody.
Supporting young people
Around our retrofit of Tower Bridge Court, known as TBC.London, we delivered a Building Lives Academy in partnership with the Construction Youth Trust. The three-week programme included employability training and careers workshops. Currently 10 of the 14 young people completing the programme have secured positive outcomes, including three individuals starting Level 2 bricklayer qualifications, one starting an electrical apprenticeship, another as a project administration trainee and two employed by agencies in site roles.
At Stockport Interchange we worked in partnership with Pure College, a specialist employment college empowering young people with SEND to thrive in society and their chosen career. We hosted a group of 18 to 21-year-old SEN students giving them an introduction to the world of construction.
Watch a short film about their Building Lives Academy here:
We support schools and colleges by providing practical STEM programmes, provide mentoring, apprenticeships, T Level placements and work experience. Our management trainees within the business are all trained as STEM ambassadors and help deliver our programmes of careers and employability events and training.
Working with schools and colleges to attract the next generation
Willmott Dixon is the country’s leading builder of schools and colleges having delivered 30,000 new school places in the past five years alone. We work with educators to deliver classroom teaching and training, raising the profile of construction careers.
In 2023, 12,971 people attended our school and college workshops, we offered 418 weeks of work experience, and we delivered 864 mock interviews to boost employability for people living in the communities where we work.
At Redmoor Academy, in Leicestershire, we delivered a one-of-a-kind enrichment programme for almost 600 students. The sessions introduced the range of construction careers available and challenged the students to plan, cost, and build a green village.
T Levels
Industry engagement is crucial to effective delivery of T Levels. At the end of 2023, Willmott Dixon has offered more than 60 T Level placements to help students gain practical experience of careers in the construction industry.
We give opportunities to T Level students like Ryan Andrews, from Cirencester College, who joined the project team on our Queens Drive project in Swindon. Here, Ryan learned roles available in construction, including quantity surveying and build management.
“The exposure to construction management processes, practical on-site experience, and the use of digital technologies have equipped me with valuable skills that will benefit my future inside and out of the industry,” said Ryan.
Around our Stockport Interchange project, we worked with Stockport College to take on two T Level placements. One of the students, Aidan, a student on the college’s Design, Surveying and Planning T Level course, shadowed the operations and commercial team.
“I developed new skills being in a professional environment. You have to act and communicate more professionally and not be afraid to be proactive and get stuck in,” said Aidan.
Watch a video about Aidan’s T Level placement here:
In recognition of our support for T Level students, the Department for Education invited Willmott Dixon to join 150 employers at London’s Science Museum in October 2023. Assistant Social Value Manager Rosie McLaren was interviewed on stage by former BBC Breakfast presenter Louise Minchin about our support of creating opportunities through industry placements.
Rosie (below right) said: “We have championed the T Level programme from its launch and made it work for us as a business, offering meaningful and robust experiences in the industry, and utilising it as a high-quality talent pool.”
Supporting Women into construction
As part of our commitment to uplift and upskill local communities, we champion the role of women in construction.
In 2023, 14% of the UK construction workforce was female with women making up 46.8% of the available workforce, pointing to the scale of the untapped talent pool. Demonstrating Willmott Dixon’s progress toward gender parity women made up 31.7% of our workforce at the end of 2023. You can find out more about how we attract, retain, develop and promote women working for Willmott Dixon in the ‘Our people’ section.
We partner with organisations, such as Women into Construction (WiC), who empower women in the communities around our projects to explore careers in the construction sector. As part of the social value work delivered by our team around the EMD Cinema refurbishment project we worked closely with WiC and our customer the London Borough of Waltham Forest to offer work experience to women facing barriers to employment.
Walthamstow resident Tamar Moseley, who had been unemployed for four years while looking after her two children, wanted to return to work. She studied for her CSCS card at home before being offered a work experience placement.
“I have been blown away by the investment Willmott Dixon has put into the program, and into me,” said Tamar (below left).
“This experience has allowed me to believe I could progress in this industry, confident in my knowledge of how it all works – it has genuinely felt too good to be true.”
In recognition of the work of Willmott Dixon Interiors to help Tamar and many others, our Interiors business won the Excellence in Outreach Award at the Inspiring Women in Construction and Engineering Awards 2023.
The team also won Best Community Project at the Black Professionals in Construction (BPIC) Awards for their work in the community in Walthamstow, as part of our Soho Theatre Walthamstow project where we generated over £6.5m social return on investment within the local community. Here, we partnered with local businesses to support people into work as well as providing work experience, construction tours, CV writing sessions, and talks about potential career opportunities within the construction industry. Connecting over 1,000 people locally, we have helped to support people into better careers and improve employment.
Supporting people with disabilities
As a disability confident employer, we support people with disabilities to overcome barriers to employment and tackle workforce inequality.
In 2023, we worked with The Seashell Trust, a national learning disability charity supporting children and young adults with complex learning difficulties, disabilities, and additional communication needs from across the UK. Our Stockport Interchange team welcomed Louis and Henry, who gained meaningful and relevant work experience around site over 12-week placements, and Erin who joined the team in our Oldham office for 7 weekly work placements.
Erin’s mum, Mandy Black, said: “With Erin having profound and multiple learning disabilities, physical disabilities and complex health needs we were not expecting her to get this chance, and for it to be such an enjoyable and meaningful experience.”