Today we’re handing over to Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, Emma Alderman, who has flourished in her ever-developing role and is driving the social value activity on multiple projects. She’s helped to shape the Winvic Enrichment Programme and is always looking for initiatives to support communities local to our projects and our head office.
For example, in January, she launched a STEM After School Club with 32, Year 7 to 10 students at Northampton Academy. Different team members from Winvic have been delivering sessions to showcase different areas of construction, from Building Information Modelling (BIM) and manuals to environmental, and the students have loved them.
Read on to find out what Emma has to say about her rewarding role and some of the projects and activities she’s working on…
I’ve worked at Winvic for five years this month and in that time, I’ve progressed from being a Marketing Assistant to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) manager, looking after the social value on projects and wider CSR for the company. Seeing the impact of our team’s work is always rewarding, and I particularly enjoy seeing the positive impact we have made on projects and inspiring young people. For example, I’ve seen students listen to careers talks, apply for work experience with us and then thrive as HTQ students and apprentices.
Before Winvic, I was working as a change analyst and team manager in financial services and wanted to find a more creative position, taking me back to my degree days of product design. During my degree I also learned about branding and marketing a product and how to do things like competitor analyses, so the job with Winvic sounded great and I knew I had a wide range of skills that would transfer to the role. I was right and enjoyed providing support on tender submissions, branding, case studies and timelapse videos.
My first impression was that the company had a really nice family feel. I was also advised to always consider if your own values fit with the company’s; they definitely did. A massive selling point was seeing a case study about Winvic resurfacing a local basketball court near the Wide Lane project in Southampton. I loved how giving back to the community was important to Winvic; little did I know that I’d be managing activity like that in just a few years! At university, I also engaged in design mentoring sessions with local students, an experience that resonates with the curriculum engagement work I undertake in my current role.
Winvic has always got involved with local communities because it’s the right thing to do and I was very interested in the activity from the start. So, as Winvic’s corporate social responsibility and project related social value activity grew, I became a Marketing and CSR Coordinator. At first, I was tracking social value activities, then I started organising and coordinating them with sites. Before too long, projects began to have significantly more requirements and now, I get involved across all aspects of a project including at the tender stage or even during Early Contractor Involvement (ECI). Mercia Park was a key project in terms of delivering numerous local authority (LA) and client requirements, and we worked with six LAs on that project; I think there was shift in social value expectations around that time and Winvic was in a good place to deliver, already adept at bringing long-lasting benefits to local people.
The end of last year was a real highlight for me because we won three Community Considerate Constructor’s Leading Lights Awards including one for the Social Value Strategy for Patrizia’s Corkfield build-to-rent project in Edgbaston. The key to success – the whole way through any project’s social value efforts – is collaboration and Corkfield is an excellent example. You can read about this and the other four multi-room projects we worked with Birmingham City Council on Page 17 of the Winvic Word newsletter. Without building good relationships and having a one team approach – especially with the site teams and our supply chain – we wouldn’t be able to deliver the meaningful outcomes that we do.
WEST MIDLANDS INTERCHANGE (WMI) SPOTLIGHT
- Denoted by government as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP), social value requirements are specified in a Development Consent Order (DCO)
- With complex geography, the Employment and Skills Plan approved by 3 LAs – Staffordshire County Council, South Staffordshire District Council and Wolverhampton Council
- Working with Staffordshire County Council Skills and its Employability Team who are helping to create new connections with local education and training providers and chair the WMI Employment and Skills Group
- Successes to date – delivered 9 curriculum engagement activities across secondary schools and universities, also delivered 9 weeks of work placement experience to 3 T-level students, hosted 4 apprentices on site and our Earthworks subcontractor will be delivering roller driver training
The area of social responsibility has just grown and grown, and I’m proud to have developed alongside it, working for a company that is creative, flexible and hyper-collaborative in its approach; from providing people with local employment opportunities, to volunteering time and materials on local projects or working with schools to inspire the next generation at careers fairs/talks and supporting with employability skills. We’re making an impact on people’s lives, not just ticking boxes or hitting numbers. Volunteering is hugely important and beneficial to all involved, we do it at Winvic, I’ve personally been a charity volunteer and I promote the activity to students because it’s a great way to gain insights into the industries they are interested in.
In January 2022 I was promoted to CSR Manager, and we now also have an assistant in our team. I get involved in a project as early as possible and liaising with clients regarding Section 106 (S106) requirements to ensure the social value targets are viable is just one benefit to ECI. For example, when a site is in a rural area and isn’t on a bus route, it could be difficult for individuals to access the site and challenging to support with running educational programmes. However, we look at alternatives to provide meaningful solutions, for example delivering our Enrichment Programme to a cohort of college students where there is more accessible transport from the college.
I’m responsible for creating a project’s social value plan and strategy, which outlines our approach and the project specific social value deliverables. I then manage the execution, tracking and reporting. While we have tried and tested engagement methods, programmes of activities and approaches to collaboration, every single location has different needs so it’s always bespoke. Just as we report against different types of methodologies – such as TOMs or the client’s or LAs own reporting systems – depending on the requirements.
Working closely with our supply chain partners is crucial in being able to offer local people employment, training, placements and career talks. And to promote the opportunities it’s crucial we work with various stakeholders like LAs, S106 coordination services, shared apprenticeship agencies, education providers and local training partners.
PROLOGIS PARK WEST LONDON
Project: Enabling works, including the demolition of former office buildings, and the construction of two industrial facilities, 190,235 sq ft and 139,435 sq
Challenge: Providing local apprenticeship opportunities for the full duration of an apprenticeship.
Solution: We worked with S106 coordination service, QualifyMe, and Evolve, the Construction Industry Training Board’s (CITB) Shared Apprenticeship Scheme and could offer pre-apprenticeship training and a 23-week electrical apprentice placement.
Results:
- 285 weeks of local employment were delivered on the project, exceeding the project target of 100 weeks
- 17 educational engagement activities were undertaken, exceeding the target of 12
- 30 weeks of work placements completed, exceeding the target of 24 weeks
We’ve recently started work at another Prologis scheme with four industrial units – Prologis Park Beddington – where we are working with Sutton Borough Council and local partners to deliver an Employment and Skills Plan that meets their S106 specifications. The three focus areas in this plan are Apprenticeship and Pre-apprenticeship opportunities, Work Insights – like careers fairs/workshops – and Work Encounters, which includes site visits. I’m looking forward to driving some equally good outcomes in the local engagement area, including meeting Prologis’ Supply Chain Charter once again, which commits to a minimum of 20% Social and Local Economic Value (SLEV) of the overall contract value using the national TOMs.
We most often talk about local employment and skills, engaging local businesses and assisting community groups, but one specialist area that can get overlooked is helping those with Special Educational Needs (SEN) to access training and employment in the industry. In part for Winvic’s CSR and the requirements for the SEGRO Logistics Park Northampton (SLPN) project, we have engaged with a local SEN school and Track NN, an organisation which supports autistic people to access employment, providing employer talks about the industry and site visits. We have also provided insights into the sensory side of construction, hosting sessions where students can try on the mandatory PPE and learn about the sights and sounds of a site; that’s an important first step before a site visit, ensuring the students are comfortable with the whole experience.
Lastly, ensuring the wellbeing of our team is a responsibility we take very seriously because they are our closest community after all, and our activities always engage with our supply chain too. For example, we train mental health first aiders, hold occupational health days, and deliver Fairness, Inclusion and Respect (FIR) training. But no matter whether it’s team, community, local business or student activity, our duty is to make sure it’s positive, meaningful and long-lasting.
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