Beard Construction

We’ve recently launched our new Social Value Framework, outlining ambitious goals to support communities and invest in people, skills, and the environment. It’s a first for our 130-year-old business and reinforces Beard’s dedication to deliver meaningful and lasting benefits to enable communities across the south of England to grow and flourish.

We have a number of key ambitions to achieve by 2030, including a £500,000 fundraising drive for charities, creating 30,000 touchpoints to inspire new entrants to the sector, and cutting carbon emissions.

The introduction of our Social Value Framework allows us to measure impact, which will give impetus to our continued investment in communities, local businesses and environmental sustainability.

Mark Beard, Chairman, said: “This remains at the forefront of our work, whilst also opening up exciting new career opportunities for our social value team, who have made commendable progress this year already.”

Enabling pathways into the industry and boosting construction skills are a key priority area for us at Beard. It’s one that resonates with wider business objectives and industry needs, and where our social value team sees huge potential to elevate our impact.

To ensure the Framework is delivered consistently, we have appointed a social value coordinator in each of Beard’s five regional offices, supporting Paula Baleson, our Social Value Manager.

This year, Beard colleagues recognised all six of these champions as ‘employees of the month’ for their efforts in promoting social value.

Mark Beard, Chairman and fourth-generation family member leading the firm, said: “Creating a better future for the communities from which we draw resources has always been an integral part of how we work. This commitment is shared by our colleagues and supply chain, whose efforts enable us to bring meaningful and lasting value beyond our construction contracts.”

One example is our partnership with Swindon and Wiltshire Careers Hub to produce a ‘hard hats, high dreams’ video. Featuring interviews with real employees explaining their career journey, the video has been live-streamed to schools in the region. Teachers were able to share questions with Beard colleagues answering in real-time. It has reached around 9,500primary school aged children and was accessible online through LearnLive to watch back.

We also rolled out a series of unique hoarding designs, putting faces to the variety of people and roles behind successful construction projects and aiming to inspire people to consider a career in construction and broaden perceptions of the industry.