Social value is at the heart of how we do business at Willmott Dixon. From the way we procure goods and services to the impact we have on the communities we work in; we consider how our actions enable an array of business and community stakeholders to thrive and prosper.
We achieved a social return on investment of more than £410m in 2024.
Supporting people
Our success depends on the skill, knowledge, integrity and commitment of our people. We enable them to give their best by supporting them to be happy at work and making sure they can achieve their full potential. You can find out more about how we attract, retain, develop and promote the people working for Willmott Dixon in the Our People section.
Our responsibility to ensure ethical working practices extends to supporting people who work for our supply chain, business partners and other organisations.
In 2024, 80% of our people took part in social activities, giving up over 14,500 hours of their time to interact with more than 50,000 people.
Local Procurement
With around 80% of our turnover spent on the procurement of goods, works and services, we can support local businesses and employment by choosing to spend a project’s budget locally.
In 2024, our local spend – that is procurement and employment within 20 miles of our live projects – totalled more than £6.5m.
Working with social businesses
Social businesses include social enterprises, registered charities or not-for-profit organisations that we have a trading relationship with, Community Interest Companies, or those with a predominantly social or environmental purpose. All of which have been externally verified by Social Enterprise UK, the UK’s leading body for social enterprises. By supporting businesses, we make sure social value is a consideration at every stage, from what we procure, through to the products and services we offer.
In 2024, we channelled more of our spend through social businesses than ever - spending £5.3million with 118 organisations.
One social enterprise where we have invested over £1 million in 2024 is We Are Footprint. We Are Footprint operate as a traditional employment agency, but have a distinct social value purpose, reinvesting 51% of its net profits into community-focused initiatives. Our investment with them resulted in nearly 160 hours of career guidance and 120 hours of mentorship across the North West of England alone in 2024. These efforts included training, mentorship, and employment support for disadvantaged groups, including individuals experiencing homelessness, care-experienced people, and those not in employment, education, or training (NEETs), and work with prisoners.
Together with We Are Footprint, we have created meaningful job opportunities for individuals facing barriers to employment, like Jack Wilson (left) and Sean McGuire (right), who re-entered the workforce at Willmott Dixon’s Spindles shopping centre project through a partnership with Get Oldham Working.
Ethical Supply Chains
Our Sustainable Procurement Policy stipulates our preference to work and engage with partners who are undertaking initiatives to promote greater environmental and social responsibility. Our policy also outlines our preference to work with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and social businesses. 95% of our supply chain partners are SMEs.
Prompt payment
We know how important cash-flow is to our supply chain partners. In 2024, our average payment time was 28 days, and we paid 99% of our invoices within 60 days. As well as giving our partners more confidence to work with us, this shows that our cash position does not rely on unfair supply chain payment terms or on holding back payments.
Real Living Wage
We are a Real Living Wage (RLW) Recognised Service Provider, certified by the Living Wage Foundation. We pay the RLW to all directly employed Willmott Dixon people, excluding apprentices and first- and second-year management trainees, and we promote the RLW throughout our supply chain.
Modern Slavery
As a major contractor, we take our responsibility for tackling modern slavery and improving the construction sector’s reputation seriously. According to figures from Unseen’s Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline, modern slavery and labour abuse in the construction industry are on the rise. To make sure our business is prepared for this unique set of challenges, we stipulate that all our supply chain partners must comply with the requirements of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and Willmott Dixon’s Modern Slavery policy.
We work to improve standards for our people and our supply chain. We are active members of the Supply Chain Sustainability School’s Built Environment Against Slavery Group, and signatories of the Gangmaster and Labour Abuse Authority’s Construction Protocol and CCLA Investment Management and the Cabinet Office’s worker protection commitment. We’ve also joined other main contractors to explore creating a modern slavery intelligence network for construction, inspired by its success in agriculture.
After collaborating with Scape’s Ethical Labour Working Group to complete a series of audits on our project sites in addition to our higher-risk supply chain partners, we conducted seven additional right to work audits and one employment audit on higher-risk supply chain partners.
In 2024, to support compliance and reporting on our sites, we trained 22 senior managers from across the business on modern slavery concerns in collaboration with the charity Unseen. These managers act as dedicated regional escalation points for any concerns related to modern slavery involving our people and supply chain, ensuring alignment with our updated and strengthened response plan. We also updated mi|pre-enrolment and our internal Modern Slavery Policy to reflect these changes.
In our latest assessment using the Home Office’s Modern Slavery Assessment Tool (MSAT), we scored by 89%. We use the MSAT to understand where the greatest risks lie in our supply chain and make continual improvements through the development of our Modern Slavery Action Plan.
In 2024, we also provided modern slavery training to 30 supply chain partners who provide higher-risk trades, supporting them to spot the signs and mitigate the risk within their business and on our sites. This resulted in 90% of our top eight active higher-risk partners completing the training.
To mark Anti-Slavery Day, Willmott Dixon partnered with Ride for Freedom, a non-profit dedicated to ending modern slavery through cycling, for a cycle across London. The route passed several of our projects and key anti-slavery monuments, raising awareness of the issue.
We partnered with one of our Groundworks partners, Aden Contracting Ltd, to deliver a case study webinar demonstrating the steps we take to mitigate these risks in our business and supply chain. By sharing best practice and lessons learned, we aim to empower the industry to do the same.
Learn more about our approach and watch the webinar here: https://www.willmottdixon.co.uk/modernslavery