Mitie, the leading facilities management and professional services company, has launched its 2020 Social Value Report, setting new industry-leading targets for the business over the next five years. As well as detailed objectives, the report shares key achievements over the past 12 months for each of the five pillars of Mitie’s Social Value Strategy: Employment, Responsibility, Community and Environment, all of which are underpinned by Innovation.
Employment
As a major UK employer with 47,500 colleagues, Mitie is committed to promoting skills and employment opportunities for all members of society, focusing particularly on apprenticeships, diversity and the Real Living Wage (RLW). As a Living Wage Foundation recognised service provider, all bids for new business include RLW rates as the preferred option. Meanwhile, Mitie employs well over 700 apprentices across the business, including 150 women who are completing technical engineering apprenticeships.
The business has also put in place many initiatives to support its six diversity networks, including reverse mentoring and unconscious bias training for the Executive Leadership Team. Mitie also runs internal events for key calendar moments, such as Black History Month, International Women’s Day and Pride Month, rolling out educational resources, including reading lists and managers’ guides, across the business to support these activities.
Looking ahead, Mitie has set ambitious diversity goals, committing to increase the percentage of women on the Group/Executive Leadership Teams to 40% and the percentage of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) colleagues to 20% by FY 2024/25. The current percentages are 18% and 3% respectively.
Responsibility
Mitie has committed to increase its support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, charitable and social enterprises (VCSEs) within its supply chain. This includes an ambitious target to increase the amount it spends with VCSEs by 7.5 times to £2.25 million by FY 2024/25. To help achieve that target, Mitie has signed-up to Social Enterprise UK (SEUK), which is supporting Mitie in identifying new VCSEs to include within it’s supply chain. Mitie has also committed to spend 33% of its supplier costs with SMEs over the next five years, up from the current 29%. In the past year alone, Mitie has already increased its SME spending by £17 million and for its public sector contracts Mitie spends 45% with SME suppliers.
Community
To ensure the business has a positive impact on the communities where it works, Mitie has set targets in three key areas: supporting the armed forces, health and wellbeing, and colleague volunteering. In recognition of the significant strides Mitie has made in supporting the armed forces, such as introducing ten additional days paid leave for its forces Reservists, it was awarded the Gold Defence Employer Recognition Scheme in July 2020.
Meanwhile, Mitie will also ramp-up its employee volunteering hours, aiming to reach the equivalent of 2,000 days of volunteering for its six volunteering partners – The British Heart Foundation, Carer Ready, Education and Employers, Macmillan Cancer Support, Oxfam and SSAFA – by 2024/5.
Environment
In February 2020, Mitie launched its Plan Zero commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2025, while also helping customers reach their own sustainability targets. Since the launch just eight months ago, Mitie has already made significant progress towards this goal, such as meeting its pledge to switch 20% of its cars and small vans to electric vehicles (EVs), three months ahead of schedule. Mitie currently has over 750 EVs in its vehicle fleet. Mitie has also launched several new services, to help clients reach net zero, including ‘Zero Carbon for Zero Cost’, the ‘Plan Zero Fleet Transition Service’ and the ‘Plan Zero City Landscaping Service’.
To further support this pledge, Mitie has a target of increasing recycling rates to 80%. Where recycling isn’t possible alternative methods, such as processing waste into fuel for heat and power, will be used, to ensure that Mitie reaches zero waste to landfill by FY 2024/25. Mitie is also working with its supply chain partners to minimise packaging and provide greener alternatives for its most commonly used items.
Innovation
All of these pillars are underpinned by a constant focus on innovation, epitomised by Mitie’s target of committing to finding new ways of delivering social value through fresh thinking. For example, Mitie’s EV transition has been supported by an innovative mindset. Challenges around paying for employee home charging for company vehicles have been overcome, thanks to a strategic partnership with EV charging start-up, Mina. Mina’s technology, together with Mitie’s existing smart charging infrastructure, means the business can pay the employee’s energy supplier directly – removing the need for colleagues to pay in the first instance and expense any costs. Not only is this more efficient for the business, it is the right thing to do for its employees.
In the past 12 months, Mitie’s achievements in social value have been recognised by a range of highly regarded third-party organisations. Mitie has received several prestigious accolades, including:
- Ranking sixth in the Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers list 2019/20, up from 17th the previous year
- Being certified a 2020 UK Top Employer by the Top Employer’s Institute
- Being rated among Britain’s Most Admired Companies 2019
- Sustainalytics, the Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) rating agency, gave Mitie a ‘Low Risk’ ESG score of 13.0, making Mitie the best-scoring facilities management company worldwide
Simon King, Director of Sustainability and Social Value, Mitie, said:
“We’re incredibly proud of the progress we have made over the past 12 months to drive or deliver social value, especially in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, with an ambition to lead our sector, and UK business more widely, we’re committed to picking up the pace and going further. With these tough new targets, a plan of initiatives and events, and a focus on finding innovative solutions, we’re committed to leaving a positive legacy in the communities in which we work.”
Notes to editors
Download the Mitie Social Value Report 2020.
Founded in 1987, Mitie is the UK’s leading facilities management and professional services company. It offers a range of services including Technical Services (Engineering Services, Energy, Water and Real Estate Services), Business Services (Security, Cleaning and Office Services) and Specialist Services (Care & Custody, Landscapes and Waste Management).
Mitie employs 47,500 people across the country, looking after a large, diverse, blue-chip customer base, from banks and retailers, to hospitals, schools and critical government strategic assets. It takes care of its customers’ people and buildings, by delivering the basics brilliantly and by deploying advanced technology. It is pioneering the Connected Workspace, using smart analytics to provide valuable insight and deliver efficiencies to create outstanding work environments for customers.
Find out more at www.mitie.com.
