Foundations issue 22

Celebrating 60 years of building excellence

We take a look back at our history and heritage Pages 6-7 The big interview with Jessica White Chief Financial Officer Pages 8-9

Celebrating our people!

Hearing from colleagues as we celebrate 60 years Pages 16-17

The Barratt Charity Plan Colleagues in Bristol making the most of their volunteer leave Page 18

Issue 22 Winter 2018

FOUNDATIONS

Welcome to issue 22

Contents...

Welcome to issue 22 of Foundations. I hope you all had an enjoyable and restful Christmas and are ready for all that the coming months have to offer.

We review our partnership with the RSPB and our achievements in the past three years which are enhancing the natural environments and local communities we work in.

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Welcome To Foundations issue 22

2018 is a big year for Barratt, marking the 60th anniversary of the company and it is important to reflect on everything we’ve achieved together in that time. Since the business was formed back in 1958, we have built more than 450,000 homes across England, Scotland and Wales. In the last year alone we built 17,395 high quality new homes, contributed £3.3bn to the economy, and supported more than 53,000 jobs.

The projects roundup features our latest products being plotted and built on our developments, we delve into more detail about those products and what sets us aside from our competitors plus we celebrate our design credentials with the 2017 Great Places winners.

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What’s new?

News from around the business

6/7

Celebrating 60 years of building excellence We take a look back at our history and heritage

8/9

The big interview Jessica White, Chief Financial Officer

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Taking care of our business Updates on sustainability and safety

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Celebrating long service Long service in last six months

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Projects roundup Sites featuring our new ranges

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Meet the team Group Design and Technical Innovation team

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Improving product knowledge A roundup of the product breakouts from the Group Leadership Conference

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Celebrating our people!

Hearing from colleagues as we celebrate 60 years

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The Barratt Charity Plan Colleagues in Bristol making the most of their volunteer leave

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RSPB partnership Three years on

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James Warner Technical, London

'Customer First’ Employee Recognition Awards Who won and photos from the night

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Muneni Chirinda Graduate, London

Creating Great Places Our 2017 winners

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Political roundup Recent changes and PM site visit

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Investing in Our People Diversity & inclusion

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Our Graduate Million Makers Their legacy and a project update

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My Barratt Benefits Find out what’s new

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The next step in our digital evolution An update on Project Darwin

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And finally…

Caption competition and wordsearch

We can also be incredibly proud of our continuing successes in the HBF 5 Star Customer Satisfaction Survey and Pride in the Job Awards and we want to continue building on this as we celebrate 60 years of building excellence and customer service. You can read more about our impressive history in this issue - and in the book we are publishing later in the year – but suffice to say that we are more than just an important part of the UK’s industrial fabric; we are well on our way to becoming a national institution!

In this issue of Foundations, we’re celebrating our great achievements and the people across the company who have made Barratt the business we are today. As well as taking a look through our history, we hear from long-service employees about their experiences as we mark our 60th anniversary. We also celebrate our winners from the national Annual Customer First Awards who are helping us to lead the way by putting our customers at the heart of everything we do.

We look at your fantastic fundraising efforts for charities in 2017 and hear from colleagues who are going even further by using the Special Leave Policy to volunteer for the causes that matter most to them.

Along with the usual news and updates from around the business, readers also get an insight into what an average day looks like for our new Chief Financial Officer, Jessica White, what her priorities are in her new role and what she enjoys doing in her spare time.

Throughout this issue we want to celebrate our history and heritage which have been so important in making Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes household names and look at how we’re ensuring that we continue to lead the way for years to come.

Chief Executive

Editorial team Karen Connell Marketing, West Scotland Rob Chilton Design and Technical, GSC

rner James Wa

Muneni Chirinda

Connell Karen

Rob Chilton

Katy Soar Group Communications, Kent House Jasmine Sommers Graduate, Bristol Olivia Murphy Graduate, Kent

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Katy Soar

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Olivia Murphy

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CONTENTS

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FOUNDATIONS

New Northern and Scotland

What's new?

Five compete for national awards Five of our site managers have gone through to the national finals of the NHBC Pride in the Job awards, from more than 16,000 site managers across the UK. Ian Green (Mercia), Calum Kidd (London Brentford), Henry Patecki (East Midlands), and John Popple (South Wales) are in the running for the Supreme Award in the Large Builder category.

Mark Pinder, of Midgard Ltd, who is Site Manager at DWH Southern’s Newbury Racecourse development, is a finalist in the Multi-storey Builder category.

The winners will be announced at a gala ceremony in London at the end of January – good luck to all our finalists!

This year our site managers won a total of 74 Quality Awards in the first round of the competition – more than any other housebuilder for the 13th year in a row – and 20 went on to receive Seals of Excellence in the next round.

Winning a Pride in the Job award is the highest industry accolade a site manager can receive – and gives added reassurance to buyers that they are purchasing a top-quality new home.

On these pages, we take a look at a variety of topics that have been making the news around the business.

Regions

Changes to data regulation

Award winner again

DATA.LOCK

Cane Hill Park, a joint development by our Southern Counties and Kent divisions, has picked up another award.

The General Data Protection Regulation, known as GDPR, constitutes the biggest change in data protection in more than two decades. It will increase privacy for individuals and give regulatory authorities greater powers to take action against organisations that breach the new law.

The scheme, on a former hospital site in Coulsdon, was judged Best Residential Development in Surrey at the UK Property Awards.

Gary Ennis, London and Southern Regional Managing Director, said: "This is the second award that we have won here this year.

Well done to the entire team, from our apprentices to our site managers, who all work hard to ensure that Cane Hill Park is an address to be proud of.”

The new law will especially affect those who collect or handle data and means that wherever we use people’s data, whether this is customers, employees or prospective employees they will be offered the right to opt out of marketing that uses data, the right to be forgotten and adds in extra safeguards.

A data breach will see businesses face heavy penalties, which is why a project is under way to ensure we’re compliant with the new regulation when it comes into force in May. We’ll be sharing more about the changes this year, including details of training to help colleagues understand the changes.

New MyLearning site In September, we launched the new MyLearning site. The new site, which is bigger, brighter and more capable than ever before can be accessed through Our Place and allows employees to: • Easily access different types of learning – classroom courses, eLearning modules, user guides, policies and more • View and check your learning record, including SHE training

Projects praised Barratt London won the Large House Builder award for its Blackfriars Circus and Waterside Park projects at the annual Brick Awards, which showcase the best use of brick at developments across the UK. The judges described Blackfriars Circus, which features over 50 different types of brick in 11 different colours, as “exceptional”.

• Review Group Policies and Procedures in one place There’s a Getting Started Guide to help colleagues find their way around the new site, which can be accessed from the MyLearning home page.

New division We’re pleased to announce that we are opening a new division in the East region in 2018. Our new Cambridgeshire division presents a great opportunity for growth in the area following strong land acquisitions and will be dual branded. The new division will help us to lead the future and increase our volume as we continue to see high levels of demand for housing.

Along with the new look, there are some brand new modules on the site, including Understanding Cyber Security, Presenting with Power, Team Working Excellence and Productivity and Time Management. More features and learning activities are regularly being added to the site, so visit MyLearning regularly to see what’s new.

They said: “Two large apartment blocks facing Blackfriars Road are stately and beautifully detailed, with winter gardens, which are a clever way to address amenity space on a busy road.”

Waterside Park was praised for details such as its ‘hit and miss’ brickwork.

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WHAT'S NEW?

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FOUNDATIONS

Celebrating 60 years of building excellence T

his year we are celebrating our 60th anniversary. From the company’s formation in 1958, we have seen tremendous growth to become the UK’s largest housebuilder. Let’s take a look back at the 60 year story of Barratt.

In 1981, Barratt launches the Studio Solo – Britain's first fully-furnished, fully-fitted and fullydecorated mortgageable one-person home.

Lawrie Barratt left school at 14, with no qualifications, but found work as a clerk, and trained as an accountant. In 1953, aged 25, Lawrie could not afford to buy the house he wanted for his family, so he set out to build one himself instead. This was to become the very first Barratt home in Darras Hall, Newcastle.

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1958

Soon after finishing his first home, Lawrie then purchased a plot across the road and built two more semis, selling them for a profit. In 1958, he joined forces with a local builder, Lewis Greensitt. The business started life as Greensitt Bros, before changing to Greensitt and Barratt.

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OUR 60TH ANNIVERSARY

In 1971, Barratt introduced part exchange to the property market, something that’s still important to the market today!

In 1988, Sir Lawrie retired, but by the start of the 1990s, the housing market collapsed. In 1991, Sir Lawrie came out of retirement in a bid to save the company he founded. He vowed not to take a salary until the company was profitable again. Upon his retirement in 1997, he had restored the Group’s fortunes to profits of £70 million.

The Mayfair one-bedroom house is launched in 1977 to help meet the growing need for affordable new homes.

Costing just £7,000, it could be bought on a £9 a week mortgage, far less than renting!

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2005

Barratt was the first housebuilder to use television and cinema commercials.

There were poster campaigns, extensive national and local press advertising, sponsorship and promotional activities.

Following rapid expansion, from acquisitions and the creation of new companies, the company was renamed Barratt Developments in 1973.

By 1976 the company was operating nationwide and by 1979, Barratt was Britain’s largest housebuilder.

In the mid-80s Barratt introduced a fresh new approach to housing needs with the launch of The Premier Collection. By 1994 success of this led to the largest exhibition of new housing ever seen in Britain with the simultaneous opening of four flagship show villages.

In the 1980’s Barratt ventured across the pond and Barratt American established itself as one of California’s foremost homebuilders. The Group also ventured into the leisure field and became one of Europe’s largest time-share developers.

In 2007 Barratt acquired Wilson Bowden PLC, comprising David Wilson Homes, Ward Homes, and Wilson Bowden Developments.

2007

In the new millennium, Barratt was becoming well known for not only traditional house styles, but for delivering contemporary designs for high-profile developments, receiving scores of industry awards for building design.

The Barratt iPad apartment was developed in 2005, to help bridge the growing affordability gap for first-time buyers.

2008

Our site managers around the country scooped 102 Quality Awards in 2013, for outstanding workmanship in the annual NHBC Pride in the Job competition – the highest number ever won by a single company.

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2014

In 2015, we joined forces with the RSPB to set a new benchmark for nature-friendly housing developments – the first national agreement of its kind in the UK.

2015

2018

Barratt London was established as a separate brand in 2014 to reflect Barratt as the market-leading residential developer in the capital.

Our prototype “Barratt Green House” was unveiled in 2008. This was the first Code for Sustainable Homes Level 6 house to be built.

You’ll be able to read more about our incredible history in our celebratory book which will be published later this year!

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FOUNDATIONS

THE BIG INTERVIEW

Biography Barratt Developments PLC (2017 – Present) Chief Financial Officer (2010 – 2017) Group Financial Controller (2007 – 2010) Head of Financial Accounting Wilson Bowden (2005 – 2007) Corporate Accountant Date of Birth: November 1978 Nationality: British Status: Married Education: Polesworth High School, St Hilda’s College Oxford (degree in Economics and Management)

Five things

you didn’t know about Jessica...

Favourite food?

Sunday Roast Favourite TV show?

Designated Survivor Book you’re reading?

My daughter loves the Kittie Lacey series Any pets?

No but I do spend most weekends on a farm What are your hobbies and interests?

Family first, then baking and sewing

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THE BIG INTERVIEW

Jessica White A

fter being with the company for more than 12 years, Jessica joined the Board as Chief Financial Officer last year. We spoke to Jessica to find out about her priorities in her new role and the importance of diversity and inclusion in our business.

So what does an average day look like for you?

I’m generally woken very early by my youngest daughter who hasn’t quite realised that night time is for sleeping yet! If I’m in Bardon, after the normal working-parent morning rush, I get in just after 8am.

One of the things I enjoy most about Barratt and my role is the variety that each day brings in terms of meeting different stakeholders and getting involved in many different areas. I don’t really have a typical day, so for example, I can be discussing business performance in one meeting, land acquisition in the next and then meeting banks or investors after that.

Unless I’m away from home, either in London or on a regional/divisional visit, I always get home for bedtime to read to my daughters, which I find is priceless catch up time in the busy working week.

After they’re in bed, I clear my emails and read meeting papers in preparation for the next day.

What are the priorities for you in your role as CFO? The most important priority is health and safety, it’s vital that we keep everyone safe across the business every day.

In terms of key strategic priorities, it’s to ensure that the business delivers on its objectives of sustainable volume and margin growth whilst remaining well positioned financially. This means that the focus on individual site performance alongside the good housebuilding disciplines we have embedded in our business are fundamental to our future success.

We also need to carefully manage our work in progress to ensure that we continue to generate sustainable returns for our shareholders and cash that we can reinvest in land for the future.

One of our principles is ensuring the financial health of our business – what are some of the ways we’re ensuring financial discipline across our business?

Ensuring the financial health of our business is embedded throughout what we all do on a day to day basis. Managing our build effectively, not building on too many fronts at once and matching build speed to sales are just some of the areas I would highlight.

Delivering on our land acquisition viabilities or better is another, as the delivery against our hurdle rates is fundamental.

Finally, following policies and procedures and ensuring that our control processes continue to operate well will also ensure the financial health of our business.

As a business, we’re looking to embrace diversity and inclusion and make it an integral part of our business. What do you think the benefits of having a more diverse and inclusive workforce will be?

Businesses which have diversity of thought in management levels, have been shown to be more successful in the long-run than those without and therefore diversity and inclusion will help ensure our future success as a business.

If we’re more representative of the communities we work in, we’ll be able to better understand and respond to their needs in terms of the homes we build and the places we create.

In addition, recruiting from a wider pool of talent means that we can attract and retain the best people in our business while also helping us to navigate the wider skills shortages in the industry.

Traditionally construction has been a sector where there have been relatively few women in management/senior positions. What advice would give to women who want to progress in their careers?

One of the reasons that I have spent so much of my career in housebuilding is the fantastic career development opportunities it provides, irrespective of gender.

Whatever gender, if you have a willingness to learn, work hard, get involved, work as part of a team and deliver, there are plenty of opportunities to progress in your career. I would always advise anyone to understand their own development needs and seek and act on feedback. If there are areas where you need coaching or development, actively seek it out from your peers, line manager or others who can help you, as we all need to continue to learn to progress!

I don’t have a specific event or day as a highlight, but what continues to stand out is the great people I have the pleasure of working with and meeting every day and the real enthusiasm everyone has for the fantastic homes that we build and their pride in Barratt. Ultimately, that’s what’s kept me enjoying my career with the business for over 12 years.

And finally, what do you do in your spare time?

I enjoy spending time playing with my two young daughters who definitely keep me busy!

I can truly say that I have never found my gender to have had any bearing on my career progression in Barratt.

As we’re celebrating our 60th anniversary this year, what’s been the biggest change you’ve seen in the business during your time here and what’s been your highlight?

The biggest change would be the business’s broader, more responsible agenda in terms of health and safety, quality, customer service and our people which you can see is really embedded in Barratt’s DNA – alongside the continued focus on being financially successful.

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FOUNDATIONS

Taking care of our business Updates from sustainability and safety

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s a Group, we arecommitted to becoming the leading national sustainable housebuilder. We’ve won some key sustainability awards, including gold in the NextGeneration Sustainability Benchmark and we achieved the best housebuilder result in the Carbon Disclosure Project for four years running. We continue to be recognised with rankings in a number of indices such as FTSE4Good which measures companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards.

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What led you to your current role?

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Philip Hay - North Scotland Colin Rough - North Scotland YE A RS OF SER Marilyn Nuttall - Manchester Dean Smith - East Midlands Dean Mayne - East Midlands TS

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Stuart Grice - East Midlands YE ARS OF SER Kelly Braybrook - Eastern Counties Keith Vince - Eastern Counties Anthony Palmer - Bristol Robin Baird - Southampton Mark Walker - London Office YEA RS OF SER Janet Cappellano - North Thames 20

Alan Cameron - East Scotland Steven Mattinson - Yorkshire East Paul Dearnley - Yorkshire East Craig Burnett - Manchester YE R A S OF SE JamesRThomson - Manchester Abdul Ali - West Midlands Jonathan Twamley - South Wales Gwyn Davies - South Wales Karen Watton - North West

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TAKING CARE OF OUR BUSINESS

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...in 2017 we created 430 hectares of private gardens and public open space – that’s the equivalent of approximately 1,000 football pitches!

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Did you know?

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The aim of the week was to help raise awareness in the divisions on what we’re doing to become a more sustainable business and help look after the environment.

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• Neil Stolle, South Wales

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• Matt Horridge, North Midlands

As we strive to do more, the SHE and HR teams are conducting a health and wellbeing review and you’ll be hearing more about offers and schemes available to everyone throughout 2018!

It’s great to be able to celebrate this milestone with the company – Barratt are a company that supports you and encourages you to grow with the changing times and this will ensure our success for years to come!

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• Julia Darwin, Northampton

We’re celebrating Barratt’s 60th anniversary this year, what does this mean to you?

In each issue of Foundations, we recognise those who have reached a 20, 30, or 40 years’ long service milestone in the previous six months. We want to congratulate everyone who has reached this achievement between July and December 2017 and thank you for your service.

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• John Taggart, South Midlands

Our 5 Steps to Safety Campaign continues to encourage us all to take the time to review and improve the safety of our everyday tasks and along with training, will help us to continue improving our performance.

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• Duncan Atkins, GSC

Obviously winning awards in my previous roles stands out for me and were particular highlights. I thoroughly enjoyed doing those roles but now I have a real sense of achievement when I see the apprentices I’ve worked with succeeding. Since doing this role, I’ve had one apprentice win a national award, one win for the Southern region and one become 2nd across Europe.

It’s an incredibly rewarding position to be in and I really appreciate what Barratt has done for me.

Long Service Roll of Honour

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• Ciara McGinty, Exeter

We’re committed to the highest industry standards, so a culture of strong, proactive health and safety performance across the Group is essential. As well as reducing our reportable Injury Incidence Rate by 2% we also achieved our target of health and safety compliance with a rate of 96% in 2017 and installed 400 defibrillators in all offices and on sites. Along with the installation of the defibrillators, our delivery of first aid training saw us awarded Organisation of the Year: High Risk Category at the St John Ambulance Everyday Heroes Awards in 2017.

I feel privileged to be helping and supporting the young people entering these trades which are so important to our business.

Due to my capabilities, I work three days a week but it feels great to watch the apprentices grow in confidence.

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Nothing is more important to our business than health and safety – of our people, our customers and the general public.

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In November, we held our third annual, Group-wide Safeguarding the Environment week which tested your knowledge about sustainability and how we minimise our environmental impact.

What do you enjoy most about your current role?

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Keeping people safe

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Safeguarding the Environment week

Unfortunately, four years ago I had a stroke. Once I’d started to recover, I knew I wanted to keep working and Exeter kept me on, supported me and I became Apprentice Champion for the division – a role I thoroughly enjoy!

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*You can read the full report on the Barratt plc website.

Over the course of the week we released a series of questions, designed and promoted by our latest intake of graduates, to test colleagues’ knowledge on what Barratt and our peers are doing to help safeguard the environment. With a number of prizes at stake, we got a great response from across the business with 722 responses throughout the week! Of these, six employees got all the questions right across the week, so please share in our congratulations to:

I started working for the Bristol division 20 years ago where I started off as a site forklift operator. From there, I became an Assistant Site Manager, then a Site Manager and eventually becoming a Senior Site Manager. I had a great time doing these roles, achieving a NHBC Pride in the Job Award and also being named Site Manager of the Year for Exeter before winning the regional award.

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We’ve completed 17% of our units using offsite technology (against a 2014 baseline).

Phil Webb

What’s been your proudest moment at Barratt?

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All our construction materials suppliers are now members of the Supply Chain Sustainability School.

When did you start with the company?

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Investing in innovation and development

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We’ve continued our commitment to Building for Life and our Great Places design standard and currently hold 57 Built for Life awards.

Sustainable and responsible sourcing

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Our employee engagement score is on target, and we’ve delivered an average of 4.5 training days per employee.

Sustainable places to live

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We’ve considerably reduced waste and carbon emissions per 1,000 sq. ft. and kept our construction waste recycling rate on target.

Attracting, inspiring and investing in people

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Our reportable Injury Incidence Rate reduced by 2% last year to meet our 2020 target.

Operating efficiency

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Keeping people safe

We spoke to Phil Webb, Apprentice Champion in Exeter, who joined Barratt 20 years ago. During his time he’s held a number of roles, including forklift operator and Senior Site Manager and we find out why his current role as Apprentice Champion is so important to him.

BAR

In October, we released our 2017 Sustainability Report and were delighted to report that we have achieved our 2020 targets for waste reduction, injuries and construction waste recycling. Here’s an outline of how we performed against the six issues that matter most:

ur long service awards policy celebrates and rewards those who have shown loyalty and commitment to the business. We recognise colleagues locally at five-yearly intervals from five years of service onwards with a certificate and letter, and those achieving 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 years also receive a financial gift and an invitation to our annual Long Service Celebration Dinner.

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June Thompson - North East Steven Pollard - BD Living

CELEBRATING LONG SERVICE

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FOUNDATIONS

Projects roundup M

aking sure that our homes stay up to date with the changing needs and tastes of our customers – and also work for us as a business – is key to maintaining our position as Britain’s leading housebuilder.

We continue to introduce new product ranges and are now rolling out our latest house types on developments across the UK. The Barratt 2016 and David Wilson DWH-7 (2017) ranges – along with the Caledonia (Barratt) and Alba (DWH) ranges in Scotland – are being enthusiastically welcomed by homebuyers.

The new Barratt house types are contemporary and sustainable, and designed to create attractive street scenes.

The DWH-7 range now includes a small number of more compact homes aimed at the young, aspiring purchaser.

The Scottish ranges have been developed to meet different building regulations, higher thermal values and the requirement to build new homes for lifetime standards.

Here we highlight some of the developments around our regions which are showcasing the new house types.

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Scotland

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Central East

Runcorn

West

This development of 36 homes has proved extremely popular with buyers and is already sold out. Bridgewater Mews, close to the Cheshire town of Runcorn, featured four designs from the Barratt 2016 range – the Maidstone, Moresby, Norbury and Derwent. These were the first-ever Barratt products plotted and built by our North West division, which has DWH-7 house types planned for new sites at Chelford, Wilmslow and Longridge.

London & Southern

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Denotes Geography covered by; North Midlands Barratt (Northern Region) and East Midlands -DWH (East Region)

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6 Glasgow

Hebburn

Preston

West Scotland saw the first complete launch of the Caledonia 2017 range across a number of new sites in recent months. The designs are proving popular with each development taking upwards of five sales during the launch weekends. The first showhomes will be ready to view in Spring 2018 and include the detached Craigend (pictured), a three bedroom family home which features a spacious kitchen with family and dining areas.

Our North East division now has approval for more than 1,100 plots across nine developments for Barratt 2016 range homes, together with 80 DWH-7 plots on two developments, and is rolling out a programme to secure planning for a further 465 DWH-7 plots. Bedewell Court, in South Tyneside, was the first entire development in the region to feature the 2016 range and has four bedroom Chester and two bedroom Washington showhomes on display.

Barratt Manchester’s Wesley Chase development is bringing 140 new homes to the Fulwood area. There will be a selection of terraced, semi-detached and detached styles from the 2016 range, featuring red brick and render exteriors with smooth blue details and grey slate tiles.

Two showhomes, a three bedroom Folkestone and four bedroom Alderney, are open at the scheme, which is located close to the city centre and half an hour from the seaside.

PROJECTSROUNDUP ROUNDUP PROJECTS

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Northern Northern

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Milton Keynes

Stroud

Looe

Eagles’ Rest in Wavendon, a village east of Milton Keynes, is the first development in our South Midlands division to solely feature DWH-7 house types. A selection of three, four and five bedroom family homes will be built in the first phase, including new-style Hadley, Nugent, Holden and Lichfield designs. Construction is now under way at the development, which is located close to countryside yet enjoys excellent commuter links.

Two superb showhomes at Saxon Gate, Bristol’s recently launched development of family homes in the Gloucestershire village of Leonard Stanley, highlight the well-thought-out designs. The four bedroom Hemsworth (pictured) has an open-plan kitchen/dining room, making it a great hub for family or entertaining. The village has a close-knit community atmosphere and local amenities, and is a short drive from the market town of Stroud.

Penndrumm Fields is a new phase of two, three and four bedroom homes in the seaside town of Looe, Cornwall, where our Exeter division is building a good mix of designs from the 2016 range, including the Maidstone, Ennerdale, Ripon, Alderney and Radleigh. The development is well-located within easy reach of all local amenities and close to regular bus routes leading to the town centre.

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89 Bedford

Crowthorne

Aylesbury

The Southern region will have 15 sites featuring the new ranges from 2018, a mix of Barratt 2016 and DWH-7 homes, with the first being introduced by North Thames division at Marston Fields in the rural village of Marston Moretaine, Bedford. This scheme for 144 homes was launched at the end of 2017.

Our Southern Counties division will be opening its first site with Barratt 2016 range designs this spring at Cricket Field Grove in Crowthorne, Berkshire. The development will comprise 130 new homes, including 21 social, in a wide selection of home styles ranging from one to four bedrooms.

The new ranges will also be introduced at the flagship Kingsbrook development in Aylesbury, which is creating a sustainable new community of more than 2,400 new homes.

North Thames is working in close partnership with Aylesbury Vale District Council and the RSPB on the scheme, which is setting a new benchmark for nature-friendly housing developments in Britain.

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FOUNDATIONS

Meet the team A

s part of Group Design and Technical, the Innovation team are key to ensuring we set the standards for the industry and look to the future of housebuilding. They are responsible for leading our approach to Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) and we caught up with the team to find out more about what they do and why it’s so important.

So why do we innovate?

We innovate for three key reasons: • To improve or maintain our quality, cost and speed • To futureproof ourselves from issues such as labour and material shortages • To improve a process or product that delivers benefit to either us or our customer As the demand for housing outstrips supply and the need for new builds continues to grow, we also have to consider the challenge around the availability of skilled labour and materials (including bricks, blocks and insulation) used to construct homes traditionally – so we look at how alternative innovative approaches can help us.

In doing so, we can ensure our divisions have options to deliver new homes and increase volumes despite certain materials or skill sets becoming scarcer. This enables us to deliver homes quicker for our customers and meet the demanding sales rates we see in many areas of the country whilst providing a robust, commercially viable technical solution.

How does innovation and specifically MMC benefit our business?

The potential benefits of innovation are huge and include increased certainty of build programme and quality, reduced dependence on weather and the reduction of defects based on controlled factory-based assembly processes plus reduced waste.

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MEET THE TEAM

Group De and Tech sign n Innovatio ical n team

The team is headed up by Oliver Novakovic (Technical & Innovation Director), along with Danielle MichalskaMorris (Sustainability & Innovation Manager), Jack Brayshaw (Sustainability & Innovation Coordinator) and recent Customer First award winner, Alex Cook (Senior Technical Project Coordinator).

Improving product knowledge A

t this year’s Group Leadership Conference, we held a series of breakout sessions focused on ‘Improving Product Knowledge’. The four sessions, led by the Group Design & Technical team, encouraged leaders from across the business to recognise the key attributes that enable our house types and our developments to stand out from our competitors.

Lego Through Lego models, this session highlighted the fact that some of our competitors do not place the same emphasis on internal layout design as we do. Using a scale model of a competitor house type, participants were asked to position furniture and people in appropriate rooms to represent everyday scenarios, such as a family mealtime, watching TV and storage of household items. With limited space, this proved to be a difficult task. Unlike us, not all of our competitors show furniture on their sales plans, so their homes may not be as spacious as customers initially think.

The current MMC applied by ourselves mainly revolves around three alternative approaches: • Timber Frame – Using timber studs formed into wall panels and timber floor cassettes to provide the internal structure of the home in place of the blockwork.

• Large Format Blockwork (LFB) - Utilising full storey height (over 2m) aircrete blocks and timber floor cassettes to provide the internal structure of the home in place of the blockwork.

• Light Gauge Steel Frame (LGSF) - Steel studs are formed into wall panels and chipboard clad steel floor cassettes to provide the internal structure of the home in place of the blockwork.

Another key benefit is the ability to build quickly when we have sites next to our competitors. It means we can build show homes, sales centres and the initial phase of build before our competitors open their show homes. Customers really respond to this and can get a real ‘sense of place’ earlier.

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How can the people in our business help integrate innovation?

The success of our innovations is largely down to how our divisions respond and embrace change.

Without the divisions informing us of issues that require innovation and supporting innovative approaches, we wouldn’t be able to innovate.

Ensuring that resource is available within teams is also crucial for integrating these new approaches. It enables divisions to understand the technology and work with our key suppliers to develop the approach for each site.

While we have extensive experience in building homes using masonry construction following a certain methodology, we sometimes need to ‘reset’ our approach with MMC in order to benefit. This has led to us having some real success stories across the Group.

To ensure the success of any trials using MMC or alternative products/ materials, we work closely with the divisions and of course, it’s key to learn from any lessons and ensure errors in the process don’t reoccur.

Virtual reality Virtual reality headsets were used to take a ‘spot the difference’ tour of a Barratt house type and one built by a competitor.

Participants highlighted key design, detail and specification differences, both internally and externally. The inclusion of built in storage, a glazed section in the front door to allow natural light into the hallway and even the practical positioning of electrical sockets, all contribute to making a better product for our customers.

Top Types Participants got competitive with this card game, based on the popular ‘Top Trumps’ franchise. Our version was created to promote specific product knowledge of our 30 most popular house types in both brands across England, Scotland and Wales. The cards include key information about each house type, including square footage, density per acre, number of persons accommodated and its matrix category in the Plotting Book.

Better by design, better by place A new booklet has been produced and sent out across the business, which explains some of the key considerations and design principles that help our house types and developments to stand out. It highlights how the smallest details can have a significant effect on the appearance and functionality of a home, as well as summarising the 12 Building for Life / Great Places questions that we use as a guide for designing new developments. During the session, participants identified poor design principles on edited versions of a Barratt and David Wilson house type, before comparing them with the actual, well designed versions that exist as part of our standard ranges.

Throughout the sessions, it was clear to delegates that our Barratt and David Wilson standard house types are designed with our customers in mind. We create rooms that are spacious, capable of being furnished practically and most importantly, can comfortably accommodate the number of intended occupants! We ensure that internal storage provision is maximised to all floors and externally, our house type elevations are designed to be aesthetically pleasing, with buildability and contribution to the street scene in mind.

IMPROVING PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE

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FOUNDATIONS

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What have been your highlights?

I think being awarded the individual excellence award in the Northern region in 2011. And the others have been to see the division prosper and grow in recent years and winning awards.

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Highlights are working with the right people, it’s about people, it’s about teams and team spirit. You cannot underestimate collaboration and the help and support that emanates throughout this company.

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I believe you get back what you put in, I’ve worked hard, I’ve remained committed and loyal and in return I’ve had opportunities to further my career. I’ve always found the company to be supportive both professionally and personally.

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Tracey: : I think the key to the success of the company is handing over a 5 Star product to the customer – they just feel there’s nothing nicer!

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s we mark our 60 anniversary, we wanted to celebrate the most important thing that’s helped us to get us to where we are today, and that’s our people. We spoke to some of our long-service employees across the business to hear about their time at Barratt, what their highlights have been and what’s been the biggest change they’ve seen since working here. th

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And everyone agrees that one of the biggest changes they’ve seen during their time is the IT, from no emails and fax machines, to photocopying pages out of the A-Z to plan journeys!

We’ve filmed interviews with these colleagues and many more, and you can watch the interviews on Our Place. If you want to take part and share your experiences, email employee.communication@ barrattplc.co.uk for more information.

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FOUNDATIONS

The Barratt Charity Plan

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ollowing your feedback, we extended the Barratt Charity Plan in 2017 so that our divisions could raise even more money for the causes which matter most to them. Along with doubling the number of chosen charities from three to six, we were also delighted to announce that Group would match divisional fundraising by up to £12,500 a year.

Throughout the year you raised money through an impressive range of fundraising efforts: from sports dinners, auctions and golf days to skydiving, wing walks and cycle rides,you didn’t disappoint! The impressive range of fundraising efforts has been incredible to see.

With all of these fundraising activities, we’re pleased to announce that our divisions raised an incredible £530,000 for their chosen charities in 2017. When combined with Group matching and donations, this brings our total donated to charities to more than £1 million!

Supporting causes that matter to you And your charitable spirit doesn’t stop there. With the revised Special Leave Policy, employees are entitled to one days' paid leave a year to volunteer.

We spoke to colleagues from our Bristol division to find out how they used their volunteering days in 2017 to support their chosen charities.

A group took volunteer leave to help out at Holly Hedge Animal Sanctuary, where they had the opportunity to tend to the gardens, clean the shelters and even take some of the animals for a walk around the woods. And of course, they spent some time showing our furry friends some much needed love and attention!

A representative at Holly Hedge explained why the division’s support is so important: “We are so thankful to Barratt Homes Bristol for choosing to support Holly Hedge as its Charity of the Year. The amount raised was phenomenal and will enable us to do so much to enrich the lives of the animals in our care. On behalf of everyone at Holly Hedge (two legged and four!) I would like to say a huge heartfelt thanks!”

Another team spent some time at St. Mungos to help provide a safe place for the local homeless community. They spent the day renovating a local homeless shelter to ensure that people coming in feel safe, secure and comfortable.

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The team at St. Mungos were pleased with the division’s involvement and said: “They have helped to provide a safe and comfortable space for people with nowhere else to go, whilst we work on longer term housing and support solutions. Staff at Barratt Homes helped transform our New Street Centre beyond expectation. This vital centre has become a much more nurturing and creative space for our clients.”

RITY PL

THE BARRATT CHARITY PLAN

BREA KING NEWS To en c o more urage ev we ar giving in 2 en 01 e match increasing 8, ing to our £ for ea ch div 15,000 ision!

Three years on...

hree years ago, we launched our partnership with the RSPB to highlight our commitment to creating wildlifefriendly developments and to reinforce our principle of safeguarding the environment. It’s important that we balance the building of new homes with the protection and enhancement of our natural environment and we’re delighted to announce that we have renewed our partnership for another three years to demonstrate our commitment! Our national partnership will continue to make us market leaders in this area for years to come.

Wildlife corridors and Swift Bricks Our Kingsbrook development, near Aylesbury in our North Thames division, has been praised for its pioneering design features which attracts wildlife and allows animals to flourish. The development will include approximately 60% greenspace, including parks, orchards and a nature reserve allowing wildlife corridors for animals to move along freely. The planting has been designed to encourage wildlife while benefiting residents, as it is low maintenance and creates spaces they can enjoy. Swift Bricks are also being built into houses to combat the declining number of Swifts by providing them with somewhere to nest which won’t cause any damage or concern to residents. These design features saw the development recently awarded the WhatHouse Silver Award for Best Partnership Scheme.

Nigel Symes, Business Advice manager at the RSPB, said: “The idea was to create somewhere where people would thrive. We know that green spaces and wildlife have a positive impact on people’s health, both physically and mentally. The response has been very positive and people have said they have moved in specifically because of how wildlife-friendly the site is. As far as we know, nobody is doing anything like this.

But we are hoping it will become an industry standard.”

Involving local communities Across our business, we’re seeing all of our divisions get involved, with hedgehog hotels installed across a number of sites and local schools invited in to learn about the importance of looking after our wildlife.

We’ve also seen a number of our divisions adopting Swift Bricks with their builds, with Exeter the first division to install these at a 1:1 ratio on The Nursery development in Ottery St Mary.

Award-winning gardens The team at Mercia were recently

recognised at the national CIRIA Big Biodiversity Challenge Awards. They scooped the ‘Temporary Award’ for their showhome garden at their Spinney Fields development in Warwickshire. The showhome garden was created in partnership with the RSPB and is full of features designed to attract wildlife, including a variety of plants to attract animals and places for them to seek refuge and hibernate.

Speaking of the award, Managing Director at Mercia, John Fitzgerald said: “We are delighted to have won this award which demonstrates how we can build new homes and at the same time protect and enhance the biodiversity of a local area, benefiting the economy, creating employment and improving health and wellbeing for our customers and the communities we create.”

The judges said, “This project had great potential to be a nationally significant model that could be used on other developments by other organisations.

Get involved Why not consider fundraising for the RSPB, or volunteering, either individually, or as a team. And this January, invite birds into your garden and join in the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch – check out their website to request your free pack.

For more information about our RSPB partnership, Biodiversity Action Plans, or the ‘Growing with Nature’ guide, contact our new Group Biodiversity Manager, Helen Nyul: helen.nyul@barrattplc.co.uk

RSPB PARTNERSHIP

19

FOUNDATIONS

'Customer First’ Employee Recognition Awards O

ur Annual ‘Customer First’ Employee Awards acknowledge and reward excellence across the business in a number of categories, and we’re delighted to showcase and congratulate the winners in Foundations.

At the Gala Awards Dinner, we recognised the 54 regional award winners from across the business as our finalists on the night.

This was our second year of recognising our people and teams in the new Customer First format, and all of the winners have shown commitment to our Customer First behaviours. In doing so, they support our vision: To lead the future of housebuilding by putting customers at the heart of everything we do.

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The winners were presented with a framed certificate and a bottle of champagne at the Annual Awards Dinner.

As well as the 'Customer First' awards, the following annual awards were also presented:

"Darias has a positive attitude which is a tribute to his personality and ability to get on well with colleagues and other trades."

APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR Darias Shade, North Scotland

"The development Matt worked on had a number of major challenges, but along with his team, they were able to overcome these with the finish achieved exceptional."

"Kirk’s passion, enthusiasm and eye for detail, at every build stage, put him into the winning position."

SITE MANAGER OF THE YEAR Kirk Raine, Doseley Park, Mercia

"Alex sets the highest standards for his work, taking ownership and working towards an end product that is not only well regarded by colleagues, but also our industry peers and sub-contractors."

THE NATIONAL CUSTOMER SERVICE AWARD 2016/17 With a recommend score of 97.4%, the National Customer Service Award for 2016/17 was awarded to London Stratford.

"Lizzie always strives to improve customer care scores and is clearly an asset to the team, working closely with other teams on site and supporting new starters."

THE JULIE CARMICHAEL SALES ADVISER OF THE YEAR Lizzie Howe, North Thames

INDIVIDUAL EXCELLENCE Alex Cook, Group Design & Technical

MULTI-STOREY APARTMENT SCHEME Matt Hatfield, Cannon Wharf, London Stratford

'CUSTOMER FIRST’ EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION AWARDS

"The team have worked closely with other teams, to deadlines and high standards to deliver great customer service."

TEAM EXCELLENCE The Fairfields Development Team, Northampton

THE DIVISIONAL SHE AWARD 2016/17 WAS WON BY MERCIA. Congratulations to all of this year's winners and finalists!

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FOUNDATIONS

Political roundup 2017 Great Places Best in Category award winners

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t Barratt Developments, we have made a strong commitment to the Built for Life Standard (BfL), and Great Places is our internal process for assessing how well we’ve delivered on this and recognises our developments that have excelled in applying the principles of good urban design. By evaluating our designs once they are actually built, we can recognise and reward those divisions which have demonstrated excellence in place-making.

Our Great Places winning developments either have a distinct character of their own, or complement the existing local character. They show well-structured layouts with interesting street and public spaces, making connections to local facilities and making the best use of the site’s specific features. The winning developments also have to address sustainability issues.

Standard Orchard Gate, Southern “The simple palette of materials and high quality landscaping has ensured this development blends in with its context and has a distinctive character. The judges liked the simple street hierarchy, connectivity with the local services and the community.”

Non Standard Reflections & The Moorings, Exeter

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n October 2017, we hosted the Prime Minister, Theresa May, the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid on our Scholars Green development just outside Manchester. Here they met some of our happy customers ahead of announcing a further £10bn to fully fund Help to Buy, until at least 2021. Help to Buy provides buyers with a 20% deposit towards a new build home (rising to 40% in London), and so far almost 135,000 families have benefited from the scheme.

The government has also been consulting throughout the latter half of 2017 on proposed changes to how Local Authorities’ housing need is assessed.

The changes seek to simplify the current system, and require councils with worse affordability levels to permit more housebuilding. Councils that fail to meet their requirements may be subject to compulsory purchase orders where they are felt to be sitting on developable land.

At the moment the changes being consulted on would lead to higher housing numbers in the South but potentially the number of homes being planned in the North would decrease.

In October, our Chief Executive David Thomas and senior executives from across the sector were invited to a summit at Downing Street to discuss housing policy and delivery with the Prime Minister. It is reassuring that the government is seeking a range of industry opinion on what is a very complex issue.

There were other government pledges too, notably £15.3bn of additional funding for a raft of housing measures, including more than £1bn to be spent on freeing up strategic development sites, and £8bn of financial guarantees to support private housebuilders. The government also announced another enquiry into landbanking and build out rates.

Overall, while there is more work to be done on planning and skills, government support for housebuilding remains strong.

The following month, the flagship policy in the government’s Autumn budget was the exemption from the first £5,000 of Stamp Duty for first-time buyers on homes up to £500,000. Given that saving for a deposit is one of the main barriers to home ownership, this is a positive move aimed at supporting more people getting a foot on the ladder.

“This scheme has an idyllic setting and blends beautifully within its context. With a mix of apartments, townhouses and detached homes, the development is designed to work with the levels and maximise the views from a large percentage of the site.”

Multi-storey Catford Green, London Aldgate “The design of the winning development provides a distinctive and well connected environment. The judges liked its simple palette of materials and how pockets of landscaping have been integrated into the streetscape, with transport and facilities on its doorstep.”

By the end of 2017, 58 of our developments were of our developments were BfL accredited, meaning we have more BfL accredited developments than the rest of the industry combined.

Ten of our developments have also been awarded BfL ‘Outstanding’, having achieved all 12 of the urban design criteria.

• Redwood Heights, Plympton (Exeter ) • Minerva, Exeter (Exeter) • Kingsbrook Village Ph2, Aylesbury (North Thames) • Gillies Meadow, Basingstoke (Southern) • Elms Field, Wokingham (Southern)

All of the gold and silver winners can be viewed on the Great Places website, accessed via the link on Our Place

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CREATING GREAT PLACES

• Aylesham Village, 1B, Aylesham (Kent) • New Mill Quarter, Hackbridge (Kent) • Chestnut Grange, Ashford (Kent) • Chapel Gate, Basingstoke (Southern Counties) • Tarka Ridge, Yelland (Exeter)

Help to Buy in a nutshell L to R: Steve Jordan (Site Manager), Neil Goodwin (MD Barratt Manchester), Bernard Rooney (RMD Central), Theresa May (Prime Minister), Sajid Javid (Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government), Philip Hammond (Chancellor).

£10bn to fully fund Help to Buy, until at least 2021

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deposit towards a new build home

135,000 families have benefited from the scheme

POLITICAL ROUNDUP

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FOUNDATIONS

Investing in Our People

Diversity & inclusion

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e set out 2017 as a big year for diversity and inclusion in Barratt, and we’re starting to see some great changes taking place across our business.

We know that a diverse team means a stronger business, is better for our customers, and makes us a more attractive employer, which is why we are committed to diversity and inclusion. We have to create an environment where we are respecting and valuing one another’s’ differences, and where people with different backgrounds, beliefs, lifestyles and skills are comfortable and can thrive at work.

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ollowing our survey last year, we have started to roll our training to senior management and our HR operations teams. Our training programme for senior management, ‘Building without Barriers’, is aimed at MDs, Divisional Directors and GSC leaders and will see leaders agree local action plans to ensure we attract and retain the best people and continue to create a great place to work.

Since the launch of our site management programme for former military personnel, we have recruited more than 70 construction trainees.

The dedicated training programme has been specially designed to help former forces personnel qualify as assistant site managers and continues to grow. The initiative saw the team awarded Gold at the Training Journal Awards and Highly Commended at the Housebuilder Awards!

We also need to ensure that we promote an inclusive work environment, making sure that our colleagues feel like they belong here, can be themselves at work, feel valued and know their voice is heard.

In doing so, it means that people can put their best foot forward at work and happier people are less likely to leave, more likely to work harder and help to reinforce our reputation as an employer of choice.

We also enhanced our family friendly policies last year to highlight our commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Important changes were made to our Maternity, Paternity, Adoption and Shared Parental Leave Policy. Our new maternity/adoption or shared parental leave policy now includes the option to take Enhanced Company Pay, which will increase the current statutory minimum to 18 weeks basic pay (followed by 21 weeks statutory pay). And our paternity policy has been updated to include Enhanced Company Pay of two weeks basic pay, an increase from the statutory minimum previously offered.

These changes that have taken place over the year aim to create an environment where all employees are in a position to reach their potential, and contribute to our future success. We want Barratt to be a great place to work with an open and honest culture that embraces diversity and inclusion.

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INVESTING IN OUR PEOPLE

What Next?

• There’s still pl enty to do though .

This year, we’ll be launching an eLearning modul e to further support training on this with employees as w ell as training fo r line managers.

• We’re currently looking at opportunities to develop women ’s careers and are reviewing our policy on flexibl e working follow ing a trial last year.

• We also contin ue to look at attracting people from a broader base, so watch th is space for wha t 2018 will bring!

We want Barratt to be a great place to work with an open and honest culture that embraces diversity and inclusion.

The Million Makers Legacy T

he Million Makers Challenge has become a significant element of the ASPIRE graduate programme in recent years, with graduates planning a series of projects and events to raise money for The Prince’s Trust to help young disadvantaged people. Working under the team name, ‘Golden Bricks’, the graduates have supported our commitment to promoting charitable giving and volunteering amongst employees while also recognising the personal development and team building opportunities they present.

As with any Barratt fundraising activity, the projects undertaken have been focused on causes linked to our business – the communities we work with, our business partners and our employees – but it’s the enduring legacy of what our graduates have achieved and the evolution of their ideas that stands out in this pioneering initiative.

In 2013, graduates looked at how to address the skills shortage in the industry by developing an educational resource toolkit. In 2014, that very toolkit was developed into an app, earning the teams an Innovation and Entrepreneurial Team award, and National Innovation award respectively. A legacy is established when innovations can be repurposed over time to address multiple issues – and this is something our graduates continue to achieve.

In recent years, our graduates have looked at the wider issue of diversity and inclusion in the sector and how we can attract more people into the industry. In September, the team hosted a conference in Bath, which repurposed ‘The Building Careers Workshop’ to discuss matters around diversity in construction whilst facilitating a group of college students and exposing them to different elements of our business.

They recently hosted a networking evening that tasked professionals in the industry to consider how they can create a more inclusive culture in the workplace. Discussing factors such as our newly launched Maternity Policy, the evening created a relaxed environment for discussion and continued the conversation spurred on by the Built by Both initiative in 2016.

From looking at all these factors, it’s clear that The Million Makers project does it all: raise money for charity (£28,000 in 2017 – more than £100,000 since 2013!), develop our graduates’ skillset and address key challenges we face in the industry. It also reinforces our principles to build strong relationships with communities and being a trusted partner through charitable giving. What truly makes it a golden brick in our Group-wide fundraising efforts is the continued support and participation received at divisional level year on year, without which it would simply not be possible. It is not just a graduate project, but a shared journey of innovation, purpose and over for us all!

Project update 'Golden Bricks' raised a grand total of £28,000 for The Prince’s Trust charity, using a £1,500 seed funding for the following projects and initiatives: The Conference Bath, September 2017

Three Peaks Challenge Yorkshire, May 2017 A gruelling 24-mile sponsored hike of Ingleborough, Whernside and Pen-y-Ghent. Completed in a target 13 hours by a team of 19 participants, made up of graduates, undergraduates and the Technical team from the North Midlands division.

Black Tie Dinner Leicester, July 2017 200-guest fundraising Gala celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Million Makers Challenge. Supported by over 20 subcontractors and national partners, with a keynote speech from rugby player Martin Bayfield and a silent auction for sponsored prizes.

A Building Careers workshop designed to challenge young people’s perceptions about construction. Attended by 50 students from five colleges, including special needs school Threeways, pupils received a speech from both Kate Moorcroft, Head of Treasury and Shamir Sumaria, trainee solicitor in Group Legal.

Social Construct London, September 2017 An informal evening of dialogue on diversity and inclusion in the industry, which saw 40 professionals from various backgrounds commit to a shift in mindset and culture. Supported by our London division with a keynote address from Tina Patel, Director at Formed Architects.

OUR GRADUATE MILLION MAKERS

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FOUNDATIONS

The next step in our digital evolution

My Barratt Benefits S

ince ‘My Barratt Benefits’ was launched in August 2010, we’ve continued to review the benefits we offer employees, including external benchmarking. This led to the relaunch of My Barratt Benefits in 2014 to incorporate My Barratt Staff Shop.

We also carry out regular research and seek feedback so we can keep the scheme relevant, valued by our employees, and as a way to attract new talent to the business. In 2017, we have improved our offering to employees and enhanced policies to reflect what matters most to you. This included upgrading our family friendly and flexible working policies to better support employees. We also updated our Long Service Award policy to better recognise and reward colleagues for their loyalty and commitment to the business.

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We are continually looking at benefits we can provide employees and recently launched the Halfords Cycle2Work scheme.

n the last edition of Foundations, we introduced Project Darwin, an initiative led by Group Sales and Marketing that will deliver new websites and content management processes for Barratt Homes, David Wilson Homes and Barratt London.

What is Project Darwin about?

One of the benefits available to all employees is the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), a positive, preventative programme of information, advice, training and services.

We are pleased to announce that employees are now able to access six counselling sessions, either face to face or by phone.

Our two EAP services help employees deal with events and issues in their everyday work and personal life.

This project is bringing state-of-the-art technology to the company that will show different versions of the website dependent on the phone, tablet or desktop computer that a visitor is using.

Longer term, it will enable website visitors to receive personalised journeys based on the pages and plot types they look at, resulting in better qualified leads.

Unum LifeWorks offers all employees, and their immediate family, free help and support to cope with life’s challenging events, whether it’s a complex concern or a simple question.

Employees have access to: • Confidential Freephone telephone helpline – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week • Expert counsellors to support employees’ emotional wellbeing on a range of issues including stress, anxiety, bereavement – including up to six counselling sessions either face to face or by phone

Construction Worker Helpline

Through providing divisional marketing teams with a simpler system to manage development and plot website pages, these can be updated more frequently. In turn, this will keep our homes standing out against the competition.

• Counselling on relationship issues for employees and their partners You can access hundreds of resources, self-assessments and online tools including a health encyclopaedia and a childcare locator via their website or mobile app www.unumlifeworks.co.uk

Username: unum Password: lifeworks 0800 048 2702 (UK) or 1800 937 351 (ROI) Available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year

The Construction Worker Helpline is a free, confidential service for construction workers and their ‘living in household’ dependents. Set up by B&CE’s Charitable Trust, it offers you support, advice and a guiding hand in times of need.

The helpline offers guidance on what options you can explore or direct you to the right service.

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Putting customers at the heart of our websites Over the last six months, a huge undertaking has happened behind the scenes with the support of our digital partner, Zone.

This has included working with divisions to understand improvements that we can make to web page management processes, and completing customer research to gain insight into their expectations of our websites.

Research has shown that customers consider the brand websites as important as show homes in their purchasing journey. There are also essential pieces of information expected by customers in their property search – for example floor plans, room dimensions and pictures of the home.

As customers look at four or more developer websites on average during their property search, Project Darwin will be taking each of these key customer requirements and ensuring that these are prominent for each brand. As a key tool in our sales process, the Darwin team are testing the new websites to ensure that they continue to support business requirements.

From February, ongoing performance tests of the new website pages will be in place.

This will involve sending a small proportion of website visitors to the new version to make sure that the number of leads generated remains the same. These tests will be ongoing up until the old websites are switched off in Q4.

What does this mean for me?

This is an exciting time for the company as this will allow customers to receive relevant, targeted and research driven content, whether it’s their first visit to the website or they have legally completed.

Senior Leadership briefings are being held to provide a business-wide understanding of our approach. These will be followed by introductory sessions for Sales Advisers at the January Sales Seminars and dedicated hands-on training for divisional marketing teams, to support them in the adoption of the new system.

To supply any feedback to the Project Darwin team or for more information, email marketingsupport@barrattplc.co.uk

Freephone:

0808 801 0372 26

MY BARRATT BENEFITS

THE NEXT STEP IN OUR DIGITAL EVOLUTION

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And finally...

Caption competition When colleagues around the business got behind Wear it Pink Day, this site team at South Midlands couldn’t wait to get involved.

It certainly looks like the team are having fun as they strike a pose and we wondered who might be saying what – can you write a witty caption?

Email us at employee.communication@barrattplc. co.uk before the closing date of 26 February, and we’ll print the best suggestions in the next issue.

This is not what I had in mind when I said “Keeping Barratt on the right track” Steve!

And the winner is...

Thanks to the readers who sent in captions for our last competition, which showed Wayne Berry and Steve McNally from Mercia taking a ride on a model train at the Baggeridge Village site.

The winning caption came from Philip Robinson, Assistant Analyst, Group Sales & Marketing

Have you got news for us?

you have lookout for stories. If We’re always on the you’d like at wh t ou ab nts me any suggestions or com on the or , ns of Foundations to see in future editio you. m fro ar he to we’d love Our Place intranet – ttplc.co.uk rra ba n@ tio .communica Email us at employee

Congratulations

Prize word search

The winner of our last wordsearch competition was Martha Wood, Northampton who received a Marks & Spencer gift card worth £50.

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ANNIVERSARY HOUSEHOLD RACECOURSE GENDER BLACKFRIARS RUNCORN

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UNDERSTANDING LEGO INSTITUTION BRISTOL VIRTUAL CANEHILLPARK

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MILITARY FUNDRAISING GOLDEN DISADVANTAGED NAVIGATE INCLUSION

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DEVELOPMENTS RSPB STRATEGIC INNOVATION THERESA FORKLIFT

Word search competition Return your word search to us and we’ll name the £50 gift card winner in the next issue.

Name Address

Job title Location Fill in this form and post it back along with the word search to: Barratt Word Search Competition, c/o First floor, 22 Lendal, York, YO1 8AA. Closing date: 26 February 2018.

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AND FINALLY...