Willmott Dixon sets the standard for sustainable development, collaborating with partner organisations to tackle the issues that matter to our industry and enabling our people to make a difference in the communities we work in.
2023 in review
We began the year facing several challenges resulting from a handful of projects that were impacted by Covid, inflation and supply chain insolvencies. However, by the close of the year, many of these projects were completed and market conditions had stabilised, with green shoots of improvement clearly visible in the company’s order book.
In January 2023, Chief Sustainability and Compliance Officer Julia Barrett (below left) was promoted to the main board of Willmott Dixon as director responsible for sustainability and compliance. Also joining the Willmott Dixon Holdings Board in 2023 were Julie Hirigoyen (below centre), former Chief Executive at UK Green Building Council, appointed as a Non-Executive Director, and Juliette Stacey (below right), formerly Group Chief Executive at engineering company Mabey and Chief Operating Officer (UK and Europe) for Savills, appointed as a Non-Executive Director.
In the Spring, we received royal recognition from the first King’s Awards for Enterprise, in the Promoting Opportunity category in recognition for all the work we do to support social mobility in the communities we work in (below). This is the fourth time we’ve received Britain’s most coveted business award, previously known as The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, and follows similar honours in 2014, 2018 and 2019, for sustainable development and supporting social mobility.
In December, Rick Willmott (below right) announced that he planned to step down as Willmott Dixon’s chief executive after 18 years, with former trainee and chief financial officer, Graham Dundas (below left), taking his place. Rick, the fifth generation of his family to run the company, has now become executive chairman, replacing Colin Enticknap, who retired from the role at the end of 2023. We also made two new appointments to the main board: Willmott Dixon Interiors chief operating officer Roger Forsdyke and Fortem chief operating officer Chris Tredget.
Influencing policy
Our people support the growth of sustainable policy and practice in our industry through their involvement with groups and associations that drive knowledge and understanding.
We work with the government, our industry and other collaborators on sector issues, the UK economy and the built environment. In 2023, we continued to push for policy changes which support a more sustainable built environment through our membership of industry and cross-sector groups.
Our Chief Sustainability Officer, Julia Barrett, represented Willmott Dixon at ministerial level as a board member of the Aldersgate Group, which advocates for a more sustainable economy.
Julia also contributed to the Skills and Net Zero (Expert Advisory Group) to the Climate Change Committee – report published May 2023 – led by Prof Dave Raey, which highlights the support needed from Government to transition roles to support a green economy. Julia is a board member of the Skills for a Sustainable Skyline Taskforce, a three-year project led by the City of London Corporation to boost the supply of skilled workers for sustainable buildings.
We are a founder member of the Supply Chain Sustainability School (SCSS) where Julia Barrett is a board member. Willmott Dixon marked the School’s 11th anniversary in June and attended their Net Zero conference in September.
Our Brilliant Buildings team helped to shape future sustainable building standards and regulations by participating in the UK Green Building Council’s Net Zero Carbon Building Standard Framework and the Future Homes Hub’s 2025 Future Homes Standard Task Group. We are also actively involved with the UK Passivhaus Trust, joining their Education Steering Group in 2023, with ambitions to train 50% of the construction industry to deliver Passivhaus or equivalent standards by 2030.
Our Building Lives team represented Willmott Dixon as members of Social Value UK and the National Social Value Taskforce.
Our people were invited to speak at UKREiiF 2023 and London Build Expo 2023, and featured in articles in Construction News, Construction Management Magazine and Housing Today.
In 2023, we continued to push for policy changes in support of a more sustainable built environment through our membership of industry and cross-sector groups, including: Build UK, the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) Construction and Demolitions Waste Forum, CL:AIRE, the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) and the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA).
We also have representatives on the Boards of Constructing Excellence, Pagabo Foundation, Employers Forum for Reducing Reoffending, Social Value UK, the National Social Value Taskforce and the UK Passivhaus Trust.
Follow this link to find out more about our representation on these groups.
COP28
COP 28 marked the first ‘Global Stocktake,’ evaluating progress towards the collective goals agreed under the Paris Agreement eight years ago to limit warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Alarmingly, in the run up to the conference in Dubai, the United Nations warned that the planet is heading for a temperature increase of 2.5-2.9°C. The stark reality outlined by the UN asserts that global emissions must be reduced by 45% by 2030 to stay within the 1.5°C limit.
Driven by our sustainability strategy, Now or Never, which follows science-based targets , we are committed to play our part in reducing our contribution to climate change. We work to deliver against clear annual targets on carbon reduction and carefully monitor and report our progress each year. Our industry-leading performance reporting is verified independently by Bureau Veritas and published annually to show progress against our commitment to become a zero-carbon company by 2030.
We recognise the need to “transition away” from fossil fuels, finally agreed at COP28, is a key component of the fight against climate change. As a business, we are committed to eliminate fossil fuels from our operations by 2030. We are piloting fossil-fuel free sites and procure 100% natural electricity from sustainable sources for our offices and sites.