Social Value | Mears Group PLC

Delivering our values during a crisis.

The UK today is unimaginably different from the conditions which prevailed throughout 2019. At Mears we firmly believe that this is precisely the moment to double down on our commitment to social value and diversity impact – when our communities need everyone to do their part.

Our four priorities

Mears are not new to ESG. In fact, it has always been at the heart of what we do.

We structure our ESG approach through our four priorities – Fair for All, Championing Local, Creating Chances and Healthy Planet. Each of these is driven by an understanding that a company of our size can make an impact on the communities we work in and on the wider world.

FAIR FOR ALL

Reducing prejudice, improving understanding of differences, and supporting social inclusion

CHAMPIONING LOCAL

Improving the
wellbeing of people
and the communities
we serve

CREATING CHANCES

Providing career, skills and employment opportunities

HEALTHY PLANET

Making a positive contribution to our planet

We set our standards extremely high and have a robust set of governance structures in place with independent scrutiny to ensure that we don’t just pay lip service to our beliefs.

Mears believes that despite the challenges presented by 2020, there is an opportunity for companies to play a major role in levelling up our economy, creating a more resilient national skills base, and being the vanguards to achieve net zero by 2050.

If this wasn’t enough, we firmly believe that getting ESG right will secure competitive advantage for those companies.

By building on our reputation as a socially responsible business, enabling our customers and communities to positively benefit from the positive social, diverse and environmental impact we create.

For us, social value is not something we simply pay lip service to. It is part of our DNA, completely embedded in everything we do."

Alan Long
Executive Director

Total number of Social Value interventions:

1000

Broken down by the following four priorities:

Championing Local

421

Healthy Planet

2

Creating Chances

421

Fair for All

156

32,611

People in the community positively impacted

10,790

People under 25 years impacted POSITIVELY by Social Value Activity

4,595

People over 50 years impacted POSITIVELY by Social Value Activity

Net social impact per colleague

£3,100

£2.1m

Social responsibility investment in colleagues support areas for COVID-19

£85,000

Investment in
Employee Assist programme to provide health and mental wellbeing and support

4,380 colleagues gave 6,647 hours
to Social Value activities

Net social impact

Our strategy

At Mears we pride ourselves on having a social heart and being a leading socially responsible business. Through a strategic approach in our specialist areas, we will work to ensure our business is positioned as a responsible business - evidenced by a highly engaged workforce, our social impact and strong governance. Our work brings us into contact with some of the most vulnerable people in society, living in some of our most socially deprived communities. As we grow, so do the opportunities and our sense of responsibility to make a positive difference.

If we didn’t care about the people and communities we work with, we wouldn’t be able to achieve this, and our organisation wouldn’t survive. Putting social and diversity impact at the heart of our business isn’t just the right thing to do - it makes good business sense. We’re committed to building a diverse and inclusive culture that goes beyond protected characteristics, attracting and retaining the best talent, and enabling all our colleagues to thrive. That’s why we continue to value and invest in Social and Diversity activity.

FAIR FOR ALL

Reducing prejudice, improving understanding of differences, and supporting social inclusion

The economic and social impacts of the pandemic and the wider economic imbalance has the potential to create an unfairer future. Working in some of our country’s most vulnerable communities Mears has to be ready to ensure that we are training, recruiting, retaining, upskilling and promoting people – regardless of their background. In 2020 we have focused on ensuring that our processes and procedures are fit for purpose to ensure that we can achieve this.

We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive culture that reflects the communities which we serve; one that attracts and retains best talent and enables our colleagues to thrive. It’s about the bigger picture of creating environments that are diverse, fair and inclusive.

Diversity and inclusion is a foundation stone for our values. It ensures that we build on our successes and continue to work for even better outcomes for our customers, clients, and colleagues. We see it as part of our day-to-day work and understand why it is key to our continued business success.

Diversity & Inclusion Spotlight

Inclusive Culture Pledge 2020

CHAMPIONING LOCAL

Improving the wellbeing of people and the communities we serve

Our social impact focus in 2020 was by necessity driven by the need to support our local communities. Whether through volunteering to get resources where they were needed or by ensuring that training, education and skills provision continued.

Mears colleagues working with a local food bank

Supporting our Community

CREATING CHANCES

Providing career, skills and employment opportunities

Mears views social mobility as a business imperative. With 95% of our business delivering housing solutions to the public sector, it is important to us that these services are delivered with higher quality and greater social value and impact, than the public sector itself can deliver.

Social value themes can be identified throughout Mears’ work, particularly throughout the best practice identified by the Social Mobility Pledge, from focusing on progression and development of colleagues, to addressing the Gender Skills Gap, and helping communities thrive.

Mears’ leading practice and provision of services has also demonstrated the capability of delivering equity for the taxpayer through relieving pressure on wider public services such as health care. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, relieving such pressure and health services is more important than ever, and means this crucial public money and resources can be allocated to other areas where it is needed.

Our commitment to apprentices