Transforming Tomorrow Sustainable Development Review 2013 1 2012 Awards for Sustainable Development What House Awards Sustain Magazine RICS Wales Awards Silver: Best Partnership Scheme Awards Winner: Gwent Records offi ce in Building at Dee Park Conservation category Winner: Best Construction Project – Peartree Way and Cotney Croft Code Winner: Royal Welsh College of Music & for Sustainable Homes Levels 5 & 6 Drama in Design and Innovation category Housing Design Awards LABC Building Energy Saving Winner: Bridport House in Mayor’s Housing Design award Excellence Awards Trust Fleet Hero for Community Consultation North Awards Winner: Houghton Primary Care Winner: Fleet Hero of the Year for Centre for Best Sustainability Design Best Private Sector Fleet Building Better Commended: NET Park for Large Commercial Development and Healthcare Awards Best Partnership with Gateshead Winner: Houghton–le–Spring Council Environment Primary Care Centre for Best South and Energy Innovation in Sustainability Winner: Orchard Village for Best Social Housing Development in Awards London Highly commended: Sustainable Constructing Business of the Year category Excellence Awards Business in the Winner: Houghton-le-Spring Housing Primary Care Centre for the Community Corporate Legacy award in Sustainability Responsibility Excellence Awards Index 2012 Winner: Contractor of the Year Aff ordable Home Gold Standard Ownership Awards Considerate Winner: The Spectrum Development, BREEAM Awards Constructors Rayners Lane for Best Regeneration Project Winner: 1st BREEAM Outstanding Scheme Health Facility – Houghton Gold Awards for: Primary Care Centre Backwell School 6th Form and Winner: 1st Zero Carbon ‘In Use’ Lecture Hall. Retroexpo Awards School (Design Stage) – Ashmount Middlesbrough BSF – Acklam Grange Winner: North Somerset Council Primary School School Town Hall in category of Public Building Retrofi t of the Year Stockwell Park High School CIOB Committed to Mardyke Estate Renewal North East Construction in the Constructing East Midlands Awards Winner: Willmott Dixon in Health Excellence Awards and Safety category Winner: Sustainable Project of the Winner: Willmott Dixon and Scape in Year - Houghton Primary Care Centre Innovation category for Sunesis 2 TRANSFORMING TOMORROW What we do Willmott Dixon is a privately owned business Founded in 1852, Willmott Dixon has grown to become one of the country’s most recognisable brands in the construction and support services sectors. Group Chief Executive Rick Willmott is the fi fth generation of the Willmott family to lead the business, aided by some of the sector’s most astute business people and supported by a complementary team of specialists across all Group companies. RESIDENTIAL ENERGY SERVICES Major contracting, house Specialising in assembling, Repair and maintenance An internal sustainability building, interior fi t-out funding and developing services to social housing and innovation and refurbishment through long-term mixed-use and corporate clients. consultancy, developing the following brands: housing regeneration Partnerships the Group’s sustainable Construction projects, often through Providing facilities maintenance development strategy Non-residential projects joint ventures with public services to over 500,000 and supporting its over £1m across 15 sectors. and private sector partners. residents in 165,000 homes. implementation. Interiors Residential Energy Services Design and fi t-out of non- New homes to buy. A specialist division focussing residential accommodation. on low carbon retrofi t for commercial, public and Housing domestic buildings. Building all types of residential Bespoke city centre apartments accommodation. designed for the private rental market. 3 Our vision We will build on our history and reputation to add value to clients and shareholders by maintaining a leadership role in the built environment, undertaking our activities in a sustainable and responsible manner and contributing to society as a whole. Our values Relationship focussed • Like-minded customers are critical assets • Align behaviour with business goals • Build long-term loyalty • Make the supply chain a refl ection of the company Human touch • Health and safety always comes fi rst • Recognise ‘it’s all about people’ • Complementary teams are the most effi cient Preserve our environment • Promote from within where we can • Committed to ongoing waste reduction • No better place to develop a career • Determined to reduce our carbon footprint • Challenged but contented • Procuring resources on a sustainable basis • Support diversity • Awareness and adoption of best practice Intrapreneurial and direct • Investors in great ideas Visible • Promote change for the better • Value and promote our brand and • Ask “is this in the company’s best interest?” heritage • Stretching performance, robust measurement • Community engagement matters • Incentives for all, success shared • Be recognised as industry leaders and market infl uencers • Encouraging ‘localism’ • Clear vision effectively communicated • Demonstrable professional and ethical integrity 4 TRANSFORMING TOMORROW Welcome to our annual review of Willmott Dixon’s performance in relation to sustainability. I hope this report will demonstrate the progress we continue to make in managing a substantial organisation in a challenging market, whilst retaining the cultural, sustainable and ethical attributes upon which we pride ourselves. 2012 saw us offi cially become a carbon neutral business and we have made good progress in becoming more energy effi cient across the company, which we anticipate will reduce our projected energy costs by around £3 million a year by 2014. We have also invested the equivalent of £1.1 million in local communities Rick Willmott under the auspices of the newly established Willmott Dixon Foundation. Group Chief Executive Willmott Dixon Another highlight has been the founding of our 4Life Academy in Birmingham. The Academy will provide specialist training for over 2,000 people a year to equip them with lifelong skills in a whole range of construction and low carbon related areas. I’ve really enjoyed working with colleagues on projects in this review, and I am “I’ve really enjoyed working very proud of our achievements to date. We recognise, however, that there remain with colleagues on projects signifi cant challenges ahead and, to ensure that we stand the best chance of in this review, and I am very succeeding in our sustainable development endeavours, we have set even more proud of our achievements stretching targets for the Group in 2013. to date.” 5 If there were ever any doubts about the urgent need for more sustainable development, events over the past couple of years should be enough to fi nally lay them to rest. At the end of 2011, the world population reached 7bn. In early 2013, levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached a record 400 parts per million – the highest for millions of years. In the UK, diffi cult economic conditions have been felt by people up and down the country, exacerbating the impact of rising energy bills, and bringing more and more Jonathon Porritt households into fuel poverty. Non-Executive Director Willmott Dixon Challenging times for the construction industry, however, have seen budgets contract, increasing the temptation to reduce investment in sustainable development, especially when saving money is clients’ top priority. But companies, faced with these pressures, need to think carefully. The banking crisis and heated exchanges over corporate tax arrangements have fuelled a growing public “2012 has seen mistrust of large corporations, and sparked debate about whether businesses should Willmott Dixon continue play a more active role in the social, economic and environmental development of the to make a real difference communities they serve. The 2012 Public Services (Social Value) Act articulated some in a variety of ways – of this thinking. from reducing the carbon Our Transforming Communities paper (p28) responded by outlining some practical ways emissions of the buildings in which service providers can leave positive legacies in the communities in which they we construct, maintain serve. The paper refl ects the many years of experience Willmott Dixon has of investing and refurbish, to fi nding in communities. In 2012 our social investment was captured for the fi rst time through innovative solutions to the company’s new Foundation, a vehicle which is already providing strategic direction sustainability conundrums; to our community activities, and sharpening the focus on the linked areas of social from helping to provide local exclusion and anti-social behaviour. employment to developing 2012 has seen Willmott Dixon continue to make a real difference in a variety of ways ground-breaking partnering – from reducing the carbon emissions of the buildings we construct, maintain and and funding arrangements. refurbish, to fi nding innovative solutions to sustainability conundrums; from helping ” to provide local employment to developing ground-breaking partnering and funding arrangements. It’s not all been plain sailing. There have been challenges along the way, and we’ve not made as much progress on some of our targets as I would have wanted. But this Review demonstrates how Willmott Dixon continues to make a positive impact on communities, the built environment, the construction sector and, increasingly, on policy-makers. 6 TRANSFORMING TOMORROW Willmott Dixon at a glance History: Founded 1852. Family: Rick Willmott is the