EMCOR UK | London, UK

What is your social mobility project? Please provide an overview:
Our purpose at EMCOR UK is to create “A Better World at Work” which comprises two elements: to promote a better place for all colleagues, partners and customers and to drive forward the social and environmental agendas to preserve the planet and promote a fair, inclusive and respectful society.
About the project:
Key objectives:
• To create fairness & equity for those who are disadvantaged or have barriers to work.
• To provide local employment opportunities with EMCOR UK in an area where there is unemployment.
• To diversity EMCOR UK’s workforce at British Sugar.
• To provide mental health support in the workplace and in the local community.
• To reduce absenteeism at work caused by mental health issues.
Research revealed:
• ONS data on unemployment and economically inactive estimates for East of England in November 2022-January 2023.
• EMCOR UK data that during 2022 mental health was the number two reason for employee absenteeism.
Scope of project:
• To provide employment opportunities to users of the Steam Café in Kings Lynn who were struggling to work but have the relevant skills to work for EMCOR UK at British Sugar.
• To carry out the refurbishment of the Steam Café in Kings Lynn via two phases; this involved volunteering by EMCOR UK employees and donations from EMCOR UK’s supply chain partners; phase one has been completed and phase two is planned for September 2023.
• To share EMCOR UK’s apprenticeship levy to facilitate training for ACT members.
• To enhance skills and so have developed with City & Guilds a bespoke cleaning qualification to aid career progression for EMCOR UK employees.
• To provide additional mental health training on site.
• To replicate this model across other ACT sites in the East of England and beyond to other areas where EMCOR UK provides services.
How did your project come to fruition?
The organisations involved in bringing this to fruition include:
EMCOR UK, Access Community Trust (Steam Café). British Sugar and EMCOR UK’s Supply chain.
Donations included:
• Coffee machine (value: £3500); Baxter Story
• TV (value: £400); CEFF Electrical
• Steam Café branded notice board (value: £700); Signs Now
• Mood enhancing Paint (value £750); Brewster Paint company
• Desks and chairs (£4,800); EMCOR UK
• Flooring (£5,500); British Sugar and PKS Building
This initiative was delivered via our corporate volunteering programme where EMCOR UK employees has two days to utilise. Given the scope of this initiative and the benefits (i.e. employment/workforce capacity & support with well-being), an exception has resulted in more volunteering time to achieve phase two (Steam Café, Kings Lynn) due in September 2023.
Challenges and solutions included:
• Resource having exceeded the two day volunteering allowance. Therefore careful planning in with operational delivery is on-going so we can free up resource to carry out phase two.
• During Phase one, our DIY SOS Team had to work between the hours of 5am and 11am to ensure that Café could continue providing a space and support for those in crisis and needing access.
• Unfortunately the café did close for three days whilst the old flooring was being replaced with a new durable and appropriate surface. However; a pop-up solution was enabled in Kings Lynn High-street so members were able to access the service during the closure.
How has your project provided opportunities for people from disadvantaged backgrounds?
Evaluation and positive impact:
Employment:
Employment of two people through links with ACT with 5 interviews to follow for additional employment opportunities. See Testimonial from Conner… in section below “What impact has your project had on your target audience?”
New skills:
For those who have barriers to employment (Level 1 City & Guilds), which was developed exclusively for this partnership and is being proposed to HMP Norwich as part of our solution to reduce reoffending whilst building a pipe-line of skilled workers for the future.
Physical Safe Space (for poor / crisis Mental Health Support to be delivered):
We carried out phase 1 of the refurbishment of Steam Café in Kings Lynn including replacement of floors; ensuring furniture heading for landfill was utilised (circular economy); decoration of the café using ‘mood enhancing paints’; new signage and donation of IT and other equipment such as TV and coffee machine. This has created a secure and safe haven where residents/employees can access personalised intensive support so they can build back their lives. In the last quarter alone, 5,000 visits were recorded of people seeking support with their poor mental health.
NB The café provides a centred intervention assistance to support primary services in King’s Lynn and surrounding areas.
Phase 2, is due from Sept 2023 where we will overhaul the office space on the first floor via volunteers from our workforce and supply chain.
What impact has your project had on your target audience?
>From a local resident’s perspective who gained employment with EMCOR UK (Connor’s testimonial) via this project.
“My story… Things for me were not always easy and it is not for many like me or in my situation. In early 2022, I was suffering severely with my mental wellness, depression and suicidal thoughts were a constant in my daily life. As a result of this, I found myself in a dire situation with no job, losing my home and the living out of my car relying on food tokens issued by the local council. At this point in time nothing was going for right for me and I couldn’t see a way out.
That was until I received help from a place called the Steam house café. Steam café is community drop-in centre for all like me who are suffering with their mental health. They helped me battle my demons and support me with my self-help to get me back on the right path in life. As a result of my weekly meetings with them I was given the help to find a job that best suited me and I was offered the chance for an interview with EMCOR UK at British Sugar Wissington.
That was 9 months ago. EMCOR UK have supported me, and my life has been completely turned around, I now find myself back at home with my family, still with the dream of making it bigger, I have money in my pocket and I’m taking the family away on our first holiday together. EMCOR UK have supported me with training and development that in turn has also helped me in my personal life.
I am proud to be a part of EMCOR UK team and to have the privileged to be asked to share my story, hopefully it will inspire others out there who may be in a dark place that you can change your fate and make a difference. ”
>From an EMCOR UK workforce perspective…
Significant reduction in days lost due to mental health issues at work; in April 2023, there was a 50% reduction recorded on number of ‘return to work’ reports citing mental health as cause of absenteeism.
Its also changing the culture on-site where more staff members feel comfortable talking about their mental health issues, given, one in five EMCOR UK employees received mental health training and eight employees received two-day training in mental health awareness, provided by Steam Café as part of reciprocal relationship.
100% pass rate achieved with first round of City & Guilds training which has improved this cohorts’ skills, awareness and a better understanding of City & Guilds Level 1 Award in:
• Practical Cleaning Skills,
• Employability
• Mental Health Awareness.
How will receiving this award benefit your project?
This award means we have a platform where we can share this project, raising awareness, interest and show casing how organisations with the right culture can address recruitment and mental health both in the work place and in the local community.
If successful, we will share knowledge of this initiative through:
BITC’s East of England Leadership Board.
The DoE who want to showcase this amongst its network.
Social Value Portal which verifies the evidence and social value calculated.
FM trade media
LinkedIn
EMCOR UK 2022 Sustainability Report.
Supply Chain via our procurement team.
ACT/Steam Café.
British Sugar communication channels.
It will also allow us to recruit more role models such as Connor. For example, EMCOR UK has engaged the Shaw Trust with a view to widening access to potential workers from Norwich who are ex-offenders and suitable for manufacturing environments we manage. This will increase our workforce capacity whilst we provide an inclusive and nurturing environment which will help reduce the need to re-offend and enable this target group to re-build and enhance their life chances through sustainable employment backed by a management team who provide training and progression.
Another benefit of receiving this award is it will help when engaging supply chain partners via our social value charter to generate, identify and ring fence social value support which is mapped to the Government’s Social Value Model (PPN06/20), so we know what resource we have collectively and can deploy it strategically during phase 2 and Phase 3.
Phase 3 is about replicating this model (jobs & training, community resilience and well-being awareness) across other ACT sites in East of England such as Norfolk & Bury St Edmunds, where we have British Sugar sites and beyond i.e. Anglian Water.
Please provide an endorsing statement from someone who can support this nomination (Max. 500 words)
Lewis Tyrrell – ACT Service Manager, Youth, Employment and Volunteer Services
The relationship with EMCOR UK has evolved into a co-relationship that works two ways to support both organisations.
We support candidates who are furthest away from employment. Many have emotional and physical barriers that even prevent them from considering the possibility to work.
We have created a pathway to assist in the transformation of the individual’s life. EMCOR assist in providing a sustainable route to lasting change. EMCOR have been instrumental in providing not only a levy to upskill the long term unemployed but our organisation as a whole. They have also provided a direct recruitment pathway.
We deliver support to adults experiencing mental health crisis. EMCOR supported the redevelopment of vital infrastructure within some of our most vulnerable communities.
The relationship has been pioneering and represents the true social value of EMCOR UK. We have been able to come together to form a partnership which is viewed with envy across both sectors