Annual Reports Keepmoat Homes Annual Report 2018

Keepmoat.com Strategic Report Chief Operating Officer’s Review Advanced construction techniques Supporting many of our procurement objectives, and vital to improving quality across the business, is our move to digital construction and other advanced construction techniques. A fourth industrial revolution is putting artificial intelligence, robotics, virtual reality and a host of new design, offsite manufacture and on site assembly techniques at the service of the construction industry. The speed of change is unprecedented and Keepmoat Homes is open to challenging traditions to find solutions that complement our current ways of working, but meet demands for speed, efficiency, productivity, certainty and quality. We have digitised our 2018 range of house types and are starting to see benefits for our customers, in the ease and detail with which we can show them their end home, in the quality of that home, and in the improved internal efficiencies being realised at all stages of design, procurement, construction and after-sales care. People Our people are at the heart of our business and we value them tremendously. We are proud of our skilled and dedicated colleagues, who work hard to help make our business a success. We recognise that we need to continually invest in our people and ensure that we attract, inspire and retain like-minded individuals to bolster our team and help us to deliver excellent service for our customers. Apprentices and trainees We continue to develop our skilled teams through high levels of trainees, apprentices and graduates who consistently make up around 9% of our workforce. We count well over 100 apprentices as part of the team, including bricklayers, quantity surveyors and administrators. Since 2017 we have been sourcing many of our trainees and apprentices through the Bridge into Construction programme. This one-year foundation course is being offered by selected further education colleges across the UK through a partnership between construction industry body Build UK and further education network Collab Group. One of the participating institutions, Sheffield College, is becoming a key training partner for us. Talent development at all levels We are looking at better ways of developing talent throughout the full length of a career with Keepmoat Homes: Talent mapping is helping us to understand what talent we have, where it is in the business and what we need to do to develop it. It will be vital in succession planning across many key roles. Our bespoke Effective Keepmoat Manager programme is currently benefitting over 50 of our colleagues as they hone their leadership skills. We have signed up to the Home Building Skills Pledge of the Home Builders Federation and are active members of their Home Building Skills Partnership. Diversity The homebuilding industry suffers from gender imbalance, particularly at senior levels. Keepmoat Homes is committed to attracting the right, skilled people into the organisation at all levels, regardless of gender. We support initiatives to attract more women into the industry and see the benefits that diversity brings to the organisation. We are working hard to break down the perceptions that have historically made the industry less attractive to women. 10

Annual Reports Keepmoat Homes Annual Report 2018 | Page 10