Willmott Dixon has been honoured in the first ever The King’s Awards for Enterprise for its work to enhance the life opportunities of others.
This is the fourth time Willmott Dixon has received Britain’s most coveted business prize, previously known as The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, with the company achieving the honour in 2014, 2018 and 2019, for both its sustainable development work and how it is supporting social mobility.
A total of 148 organisations have been awarded a King’s Award for Enterprise this year, with Willmott Dixon gaining one for delivering wider benefits to society far beyond its work in the built environment. This includes the many thousands of hours its people volunteer to improve local community infrastructure as well as their work providing careers advice, skills development and creating job opportunities for people from disadvantaged backgrounds. This includes groundbreaking initiatives to improve job prospects for ex-offenders through its Building Lives Academies initiative, including academies in HMP Belmarsh (see film here) and HMP Elmley.
Recent achievements that led to the award include:
- 86,945 people were engaged in activities to boost their life chances
- 48,000 hours donated by Willmott Dixon people
- 1,172 mock interviews held to support people getting jobs
- 608 community-related programmes delivered by our people
- £1m+ spent with 45 social businesses in 2021
- 144 people facing significant barriers to work gained employment through the company’s intervention
- 104 people started new careers after receiving long-term support
- 80% of Willmott Dixon people were involved in some activity
- 68% customers rated Willmott Dixon as a nine or ten out of ten for social value and community outcomes