Read: Unlocking Opportunity

Persimmon Homes is tacking the UK’s housing shortfall while also driving social mobility by creating wider access into the housing sector.

Justine with Persimmon CEO, Dean Finch

The UK needs about 300,000 more new homes per year to keep pace with the growth in population and to make up for years of under-supply. There is need for both new housing and the repair, maintenance, and modernisation of existing homes to address our housing shortage in a sustainable manner. This need for increased house building is happening at time when there is a skills shortage and skills gap in the UK construction industry. The construction industry urgently needs skills and expertise in all areas of housebuilding—at technical, supervisory and managerial levels. It also needs skills in all aspects of the life-cycle of housing construction. The skills gap for housebuilding is, however, greatest in the south east of England.

In turn, the sector as a whole must recognise where this new talent and skills needs to come from. It means tapping into new talent pools, and making the industry even more open. It must attract and encourage more young people into the industry, but also increase the diversity of the young people it already brings into the industry. Additionally, it must also seek to retain the skilled workforce that the industry develop - taking development and training more seriously, and invest in creating significant progression pathways in careers in the sector. A more holistic strategy is needed to address the skills gap not just in housebuilding, but most STEM areas that face a deficit in the supply of skills against demand in the UK. Persimmon has demonstrated best practice in already responding to these challenges. It has shifted its focus to creating wider access and pathways into housebuilding, placing a significant emphasis on learning, development and progression within the company; and increasing the skills base that is required to address the nation’s skills gap, and build the houses that are needed for people and their families.

Persimmon is a compelling example of a business with wide pathways into the business that lends itself as a catalyst of social mobility and as a provider of opportunity across the UK. This provides a strong foundation to up-skill young people, and people of all ages, in areas of development.

Justine visiting Germany Beck

As set out by the Social Mobility Pledge, improving access to the workplace for people from disadvantaged backgrounds is at the core of the social mobility solution. Persimmon actively widens these pathways for access to construction by creating additional talent pipelines for school leavers into its industry-leading apprenticeships.

While the business, like many others, has faced some specific challenges in the last two years, it is clear that it has had a commendable focus on developing its talent internally, ensuring it thrives and progresses within the company, and has created an environment where hard work and aspiration is rewarded. As shown by over 600 internal promotions over the last two years. It has demonstrated a comprehensive and chronological approach to boosting social mobility. This approach begins with promoting skills and careers in schools around its sites across the UK; it has a focus on widening access into housebuilding, such as through its Combat to Construction programme; it has a strong focus on upskilling and developing its people, boosting progression within careers throughout the company; and creates opportunities everyday by the nature of its business model building homes for first-time buyers.

One of the foremost problems facing the UK’s performance on social mobility, and problems facing the housing sector, is the UK’s skills gap. This is the relative deficit between the supply and demand of skills. This is why Persimmon is prioritising engaging with schools around its sites across the UK and promoting skills within the sector. The company’s Ambassador Programme aims to empower young people to consider their options beyond school and inspire them into a career in construction and one of the many trade or professional roles within the industry.

Justine with one of Persimmon’s apprentices

The company is also looking to address the skills gap by widening the house building sector, which is already a relatively open sector, to new pools of talent from different backgrounds. The Social Mobility Pledge recognises Persimmon’s efforts on helping former army service people into jobs in the sector, through its Combat to Construction initiative. This initiative doesn’t just provide access to jobs, but also progression routes that are clear from the beginning, such as training programmes to become site managers and assistant managers.

Persimmon has also shown a commitment to continuously approving its talent development engine, including its new programme of Apprentice Masters, which is a leading example of learning and development among Social Mobility Pledge companies. This renewed focus of introducing new methods of training apprentices has demonstrated the business has both anticipated and listened to feedback on challenges that remain, as included in the Independent Review, with a strong focus on maintaining and increasing quality of new builds.

With over 15% of Persimmon’s people progressing through apprenticeships or formal training at any one time, this is also a strong boon for the economy, up-skilling the workforce in the backdrop of a wider national skills shortage.

Externally, the company has shown a strong commitment to engaging with local communities across the country in areas where it has a footprint through development, with school engagement and Ambassador Programmes leading on outreach, specifically focusing on helping more females into construction. It also has a significant impact on local communities across the UK as a result of how, where and why it chooses to develop projects. It generates opportunities in these communities to get on the housing ladder, secure employment and to develop new skills. In addition, Persimmon has focused its financial support towards charities, community groups and social enterprises that are making the biggest difference to peoples’ lives in those

communities.

Justine launching Persimmon’s Unlocking Opportunity Action Plan at their head office

While the housebuilding sector is highly competitive, Persimmon is willing to work with its competitors on the issue of improving social mobility across the UK, and for sharing best practice on the development of skills, and learning from the challenges that house builders have collectively faced. All of which raises aspirations and enables more people to unlock their potential, unburdened by unfair bias about their background or upbringing.

Persimmon has all the hallmarks of a company that has demonstrated best practice in delivering and boosting social mobility - and it is working with the Social Mobility Pledge to go even further.