Life at Mears

What's it like to work at Mears

One of the many reasons that our colleagues decide on a career with Mears, is our emphasis on being a socially responsible business and giving back to the communities in which we operate.

Our work brings us into contact with some of the most vulnerable people in society, living in some of the most socially deprived communities. As we grow, so do the opportunities and our sense of responsibility to make a positive difference.

We are proud to be on the list of the Sunday Times 25 Best Big Companies to Work For, and on the Social Mobility Index of the top 75 employers in the UK for our commitment to social mobility. We have a national workforce group that is responsible for setting the approach to staff engagement and each local branch has a people plan, which sets out what it will do in each year. We have an Employee Director who sits on the Mears Group Board, which also helps ensure that the views of the workforce are listened to and actioned.

Social Mobility

We’re committed to creating a fair and inclusive environment where all current and future employees can thrive. We support social mobility by driving change and opening up opportunities through our recruitment, development, and community engagement activities.

To ensure we’re making meaningful progress, we collect and analyse data on the backgrounds of our candidates and workforce. This helps us identify and understand any barriers people may face — and take action to remove them.

Our latest statistics show a socially diverse workforce*:

18% – Were eligible for free school meals or received pupil premium
59% – Attended a non-selective state (comprehensive) school
65% – Attended a state school
35% – Attended a non-UK school, selected 'other', or preferred not to say
42% – Come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds (based on the job of a parent or guardian when they were around age 14)
4.9% – Were the first in their family to go to university**

_{*All figures are representative numbers out of the total workforce
**This figure is affected by limited availability of education data}

Note: These figures represent our workforce based on an 83% completion rate of the social mobility survey, including responses where individuals chose ‘prefer not to say’.