United Utilities: Opportunity on Tap - Opportunity Action Plan

OPPORTUNITY

ON TAP

FOREWORD | Rt Hon Justine Greening Tackling weak social mobility is a challenge that has defied our country for many years.

Report after report sets out the difficulties Britain faces in becoming a place where there is equality of opportunity for everyone for the first time, irrespective of where they grow up and their background.

We should never lose sight of the crucial role that a key group of organisations can have that are at the heart of how opportunity spreads across the country businesses.

This is supported by its involvement in the Department for Work and Pensions’ partnership programme on employability skills which aims to address the nation’s skills gaps.

Diversity and inclusion on a number of levels have also been addressed within the business so that internal barriers that can stop careers progressing have been removed.

Businesses like United Utilities are playing a crucial role in levelling the playing field and extending more opportunity to more people in the North West region of Britain it serves.

The United Utilities effort crucially then extends outside the company in the communities it serves through working in schools, building a pipeline of talent that it can directly connect up to the opportunities it provides as an employer.

I launched the Social Mobility Pledge to build a coalition of the willing just like United Utilities - businesses who were willing to work together and share their insight and experience to help other companies get further, faster on social mobility.

But the business is also present in communities more widely targeting its effort in places most disconnected from opportunity where it can have the biggest impact.

Our work, through a number of reports such as this one, aims to identify and share the best practice and leading edge thinking from businesses that are already being successfully delivered on the ground. By taking the learnings from United Utilities, we can also use this to inspire more companies to take the same steps.

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The work by United Utilities starts inside the company with an impressive apprenticeships programme and a learning and development approach for all employees.

For example, United Utilities has a programme that partners directly with the DWP to build employability skills for people further away from the jobs market.

That work doesn’t just help United Utilities access an even wider talent pool. It has also been a way to positively help tackle affordability of bills for out of work households.

The experience of United Utilities shows how businesses can play a clear role in tackling weak

social mobility at a local level in a way that is good for communities and the company itself.

By building stronger communities, reflected through its people, it is building a stronger company too.

Through the Social Mobility Pledge we are seeing more companies stepping up to make a commitment to spread opportunity into the very communities that need more the most.

It is firmly at the heart of what they stand for as businesses. Around 500 businesses employing 5 million people are already part of our coalition, alongside 75 universities with 2 million students.

I hope our collective effort, and insight reports such as this, can encourage and inspire more businesses and organisations to ask themselves what more they can do to fix Britain’s social mobility challenge and then galvanise them into action.

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Businesses like United Utilities are playing a crucial role in levelling the playing field and extending more opportunity to more people in the North West region of Britain

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FOREWORD | Louise Beardmore As Customer Services and People Director at United Utilities, Social Mobility is high on my agenda for both business and personal reasons.

From a business perspective, I want our workforce to represent the communities that we serve. The North West is a hugely diverse region. We’re home to some of the most deprived and disadvantaged towns in the UK, comprising areas with extremely low social mobility.

We therefore have a role to play in ensuring that both our customers and employees have equal opportunities and access to education, employment and enrichment activities, regardless of their social-economic status. I understand the benefits of having a broad and diverse talent pool and I want our customers to recognise United Utilities as an employer who really values diversity and inclusion.

I’m personally passionate about providing opportunities to those that need it most and understand how critical it is to support people to realise their full potential. That’s why, four years ago, I created the United Utilities Youth Programme.

This supports 18-24 year old NEETs into paid employment. The programme has evolved and gone from strength to strength over the years, and I’m so proud to say that 76 per cent of the 108 participants are now in paid employment as a result.

Opportunities like these are crucial and, as a business, we pride ourselves on developing the wide and diverse talent pool we are lucky to have in the North West region we are so proud of serving.

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All of our programmes and projects featured in this report have a huge impact. Whether it’s inspiring the next generation to consider pursuing a STEM related career, converting an unemployed Youth Programme participant into full time employment, or providing employability skills to under-represented communities, it’s vital, it’s meaningful and more often than not, it’s life changing.

Now that we have fully established and credible programmes, partnerships and projects supporting social mobility, my new focus is to simply spread the word. I want our supply chain and other North West businesses, both big and small, to sign up to the Social Mobility Pledge and consider ways they too can support our people and our communities.

I really believe that together we can make a real difference to social mobility in the North West.

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INTRODUCTION Social mobility is about ensuring that everyone, regardless of their background, has an equal opportunity to get to where they want to be in life.

In a society that is socially mobile, every individual has a fair chance of reaching their potential and competes on a level playing field.

However, in today’s Britain, where people start off in life has a disproportionate impact on where they end up, both in terms of careers, and earnings.

Evidence shows that for young people the link between the circumstances of where they come from and where they end up is becoming increasingly strong. Disadvantage is becoming entrenched in certain areas of the country; with isolated rural, coastal towns and former industrial areas becoming areas that have significant opportunity gaps.

Young people growing up in these areas have less chance of achieving good educational outcomes and often end up trapped by a lack of access to further education and employment opportunities, and career opportunities thereafter.

As noted in the Department for Education’s (DfE) Social Mobility Action Plan: “In Britain today, the community where you grow up will shape your chances of attending a good school and your wider educational and career outcomes. Education and skills outcomes vary significantly across the country and are, in turn, one of the biggest drivers of regional variations in productivity.”1 The DfE report also underlines where young people grow up as a key determining factor in

the opportunities they have. It outlines that if disadvantaged pupils in all regions of this country performed as well as disadvantaged pupils in London, this would lead to an overall benefit to the UK economy of over £20 billion.”2 It outlines: “A significant predictor of a child’s early outcomes is the education level of their parents.

Parents with less education are no less committed, caring, or concerned about their children’s prospects.

But they can be less likely to have the right information and tools to support their children’s development.”3 Some of these social mobility issues are more prevalent in some regions, than others.

United Utilities recognises it has a responsibility to the North West of England, both as a region-wide provider of waste and water services, and as the region’s only FTSE100 company, and using that scale and reach into communities to promote positive outcomes.

This responsibility is particularly important in reaching the widest gaps in a region that has 4 of the 10 most deprived neighbourhoods in the UK. The scale of challenges for the North West has also been heightened by the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The North West had the largest month-on-month increase in the number of people on Universal Credit at 9 April 2020 and it is now the region with the most people on Universal Credit, which represented 13.8% of all people on Universal Credit.4

1, 2 & 3 - Department for Education (2017): Unlocking Talent, Fulfilling Potential: A plan for improving social mobility through education 4 - Department for Work and Pensions (April 2020): Official Statistics: Universal Credit: 29 April 2013 to 9 April 2020

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breeds “Opportunity opportunity and,

while early advantage accumulates, so too does early disadvantage

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Many of the challenges we face throughout communities across the North West and across the UK are clear, and the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened these challenges, both in terms of the immediate public health challenges, but also the socioeconomic threats. As the proportion of those reliant on income from the State has increased over this period, and pathways into opportunities have become displaced.

But it is important to recognise where progress is being made to bridge these gaps.

United Utilities has demonstrated significant leading practice in directing its efforts to boost social mobility in local communities and to groups that are the furthest away from opportunity, and those in the most vulnerable circumstances.

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This leading practice has been demonstrated through its own targeting of efforts and resources to the vulnerable, but also through its role as a regional facilitator, through its wider relationships with partners, third-sector and supply chain, in helping level up the region.

The Social Mobility Pledge believes that United Utilities has demonstrated leading practice in a thought-out, chronological and comprehensive way.

It has begun by understanding the region through its relationship with communities as their customers, and arguably no business has the opportunity to know communities better than providers of a monopoly water service provider.

The Social Mobility Pledge has recognised three key examples of best practice in United Utilities’ work.

Firstly, it has set out to boost social mobility in a way that aligns with its strengths as a water company and its ability to help those in the most vulnerable groups with affordability issues Secondly, aligning once again with its purpose as a water company, it has been effective in addressing the Skills Gap and laying the foundations for boosting social mobility by engaging with schools and promoting STEM disciplines and careers.

Thirdly, United Utilities has set out to create opportunities to help those in the North West that are furthest away from opportunity, particularly NEETs, into employment through its Youth Programme; and creating pathways into apprenticeships, or within its supply chain. It has also demonstrated a strong record of delivering opportunity through its

apprenticeship programmes, and graduate schemes, with high rates of progression into permanent roles within the company.

United Utilities has also sought to create a more inclusive environment within the company, one that focuses on culture. It has demonstrated a strong understanding that culture isn’t something that can be created, but something that is lived, and best lived by high and positive engagement of its people. The Social Mobility Pledge finds United Utilities has highly effectively boosted engagement in three principal ways: developing, supporting, and empowering.

This report will highlight United Utilities’ leading practice in these areas, how other businesses can learn and replicate - but also consider how this leading practice can be moved further forward.

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BEST PRACTICE | Helping Opportunities Flow Addressing the Affordability Gap The United Utilities approach to social mobility begins with addressing the widest gaps across the region, which starts with providing assistance for those who have difficulty affording their monthly bills.

Across the North West, 47% of households have less than £100 in savings5, which means they are more likely to find it difficult to pay an unexpected bill on time.

United Utilities’ response to this seeks to reach these groups who might find it difficult to afford bills.

Its aims are ambitious and commendable. It has established different levels of support for customers in financial difficulties, dependent on need. United Utilities is also proposing its largest ever bill reduction of £45 by 2025.

It forecasts this reduction will support 250,000 customers moving out of water poverty by 2025, when combined with modest improvement in household incomes, and is currently helping over 100,000 customers who are having difficulty affording their bills.

United Utilities has committed to lifting 66,500 customers out of ‘water poverty’ by 2025, and to have helped over a quarter of a million people that are facing affordability issues with their water bills.

5 - Money Advice Service (2016): Millions at risk with savings of £100 or less

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An Evidence-Based and CommunityLed Approach Building on its extensive understanding with its customer base in communities through the North West, United Utilities has set out to fully understand the scale of the affordability problem to inform its long-term bill plans, and ensure that there is a limited burden on upcoming and future generations, in the backdrop of social mobility being at an all-time low since the 1980s.6 United Utilities has consulted on affordability impacts and mitigation plans with the customer challenge group for the North West “YourVoice” initiative, and made changes to its proposals based on their representations to the company.

In January 2018 United Utilities launched the water sector’s first affordability summit. This was held in Liverpool in the North West and was held with a range of stakeholders from across the region, from businesses, charities, trade unions, community groups, councils and wider third sector organisations. The aim behind the summit was to help co-design new affordability support services, in a way that was more in touch with need.

Following the success of the inaugural affordability summit, United Utilities has now held three, in 2019 and 2020, as it has looked to place an ever greater focus on its affordability agenda, and increasing its assistance for those most in need.

6 - OECD (2018). ‘A Broken Social Elevator? How to Promote Social Mobility.’

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United Utilities has put real meaning into leading practice with the innovation of the first ever affordability summit, and has demonstrated real leadership in the sector on this issue. It is clear how the company is taking a considered approach that is in touch with people across the region, to whom it provides services, and uses this detailed understanding of its customer-base to inform its pioneering affordability programmes.

Providing financial stability People that are in the most vulnerable circumstances are often facing a lot of chaos in their lives, but United Utilities sees its responsibility as providing stability.

That’s why its WaterSure tariff provides financial certainty for people who are facing affordability challenges.

The WaterSure tariff provides consistent billing every month, regardless of water usage, such as households with large families.

It can be accessed through an application, and only requires that customers have a water meter and are in receipt of a form of benefits (demonstrating the financial need), such as income support, incomebased Job Seekers’ Allowance, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit (not just family part), Housing Benefit, Pension Credit, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, and Universal Credit.

It also considers whether individuals have fallen into financial difficulties, perhaps due to having three or more children under the age of 19 living at the same address for whom Child Benefit is claimed; or someone they live with, has a medical condition which requires the use of lots of water.

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Partnering in addressing household debt Those at the lower end of the income scale, and those facing significant affordability issues, are also those who are most likely to be facing financial challenges due to indebtedness.

WaterSure caps any monthly bill, and if the water meter shows that charges are higher than you would have paid based on your meter readings, then United Utilities will credit your account once a year with the difference.

Helping people through the tough times Life doesn’t always flow smoothly and sometimes things can go wrong. Whether that’s due to unexpected wider expenses, job losses, personal illness and injury, or family bereavement, sometimes people can struggle to make ends meet and pay their bills.

If we are to improve social mobility long-term, it’s important to ensure that short-term hiccups don’t define people’s lives long-term. And it’s important that businesses, especially providers of essential services, take a more considerate approach where possible.

United Utilities has set out how it supports people in the North West through those tough times through Payment Breaks. Its payment breaks are specifically aimed at customers who are on means-tested benefits or whose combined annual household income is below £21,000.

This represents a clear commitment to the groups of people across the North West who are likely to have the least amount of savings, and most likely to be disrupted when things go wrong.

For those who find themselves in more serious financial difficulty, United Utilities has also established a Trust Fund, from which individuals in particularly vulnerable circumstances can apply for a one-off payment to help clear their debts and start again with a clean slate.

Those in the most difficult circumstances are also more likely to have significant debt. United Utilities introduced its payment-matching-plus programme to help those at the sharp end of deprivation help pay back their debts.

The payment-matching-plus initiative means that for every £1 individuals pay towards their debts, the company will match it with £1 too.

After six months of paying back debts, United Utilities increases its matched contribution to £2 for every pound they pay.

Through its recognition of the challenges presented by debt, and wider work on affordability, United Utilities has demonstrated how its social mobility agenda goes beyond boosting opportunity, but helping those in the greatest need with a helping hand out of hardship.

The Social Mobility Pledge recognises this as a largely unique practice of responsible business.

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BOOSTING STEM CAPITAL Supporting Eduction & Promoting Careers While access to opportunity is a large barrier that hinders social mobility, there is also a more nuanced problem, which is a decreasing number of young people being equipped with the skills to obtain many of the opportunities that are out there.

This ‘Skills Gap’ is a pressing problem not just for social mobility, but for the UK economy too.

According to a study conducted by the CBI, 40% of employers reported a shortage of STEM graduates as being a key barrier in recruiting employees for their skilled work7.

Another set of research on this issue was conducted

by STEM Learning, who found that out of 400 HR directors and decision makers in businesses that rely on staff with STEM skills: • 7 out of 10 said they had found it difficult to hire staff with the required skills in the last year • 9 out of 10 said that their recruitment of such positions is taking longer, with the process taking an average of 31 days longer than expected • 48% are looking abroad to find the right skills8.

Not only is it a very real barrier for the economy, but this ultimately means there are opportunities there for young people, but they are inaccessible because they haven’t been trained in the skills or prepared by the education system for the career paths available.

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It’s also a costly problem. STEM Learning’s research, for instance, estimated that the issue is costing businesses £1.5 billion a year in recruitment, temporary staffing, inflated salaries and additional training costs9.

United Utilities recognises that encouraging young people to acquire STEM knowledge and skills is crucial to the UK maintaining its position in an increasingly scientific and technological world, and to boost social mobility by encouraging young people to pursue STEM disciplines and ensure the career paths available to them are accessible.

It has demonstrated through its programmes supporting STEM education, and promoting careers across the key industries, that is committed to providing opportunities to young people to help show them what they could achieve and the careers that could be possible. And in turn, up skilling young people from less privileged backgrounds.

Research has identified that 40% of young people in the UK do not achieve five ‘good’ GCSE passes or equivalent within STEM disciplines. This can often decrease access to careers in STEM sectors - or at a psychological level, lower attainment in these areas might convince young people these careers are not for them. And despite GCSE entries increasing by 202,000 in 2019, entries into STEM subjects were down by 136,000.

and learning that low science capital and attainment in STEM subjects can be improved.

United Utilities recognises how upskilling and promoting engagement in STEM disciplines is a critical part to boosting social mobility, creating access to opportunities, but also addressing the UK’s Skills Gap. It uses its strong relationships with local communities across the North West to deliver comprehensive and far reaching programmes to support STEM education, and promote possible careers throughout the STEM industries.

Supporting Education By visiting local schools and having those conversations with young people about the day-today of STEM careers, United Utilities aims to inspire ambition that can set young people on the path to a future career within STEM industries.

Research also suggests that only 15 percent of scientists come from ‘working class’ households.

There is also a significant divide between state and private education, with over 80% of independent schools offering STEM competitions as extracurricular activity - compared to only half of state schools. It is through facilitating and supporting STEM education

Research shows that early outreach is crucial.

It has been identified that often by six years old, children have already started to form opinions about what they can do in the future. They are influenced by what they see around them – and gender, ethnicity and social background can play a big part in this. Research also indicates that when employers visit schools they can be a powerful force for change: students who took part in four or more employer engagement activities were 25% less likely to become NEETs - those not in employment, education or training.

7 - CBI/Pearson (2016). ‘The Right Combination: Education and Skills Survey 2016’

8 & 9 - STEM Learning (2018)

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United Utilities has a “ large focus on promoting STEM careers in underrepresented areas across the North West region.

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These findings can guide the approach of businesses not just on why they should be engaging with young people to promote STEM learning, but how it should be done, such as working with certain age groups in a more strategic way.

United Utilities has sponsored the North West’s first STEM Centre of Excellence, which has been built at Beamont Collegiate Academy in Warrington.

The STEM centre will be the central hub of all STEM activity and teacher training in the North West.

Each year, it will be visited by hundreds of teachers and thousands of primary and secondary students from across the region. United Utilities have branded the interior and exterior of the centre, to showcase the fantastic work they do with local schools, promote STEM related careers and to highlight the opportunities they have available to students.

The company has also formed a strategic partnership with Kingfisher Education Services to deliver engaging workshops with water and science related content, throughout primary schools in the region. In this work, Kingfisher lends its expertise on delivering the engagement and facilitating the school curriculum; and United Utilities’ own employees volunteer to 16

take part in a range of activities - including career insight talks, career fairs, CV workshops and mock interviews. This school engagement programme has significant reach, as it engages more than 11,000 children aged 4 to 11 who benefit from their educational workshops and resources.

It hosts a 16-week ‘Engineering Masterclass’ programme in partnership with The Challenge Academy Trust in Warrington to inspire the next generation to consider pursuing a STEM related career. The event in 2019 saw students aged 13 and 14 tasked with devising a scheme to pipe water from a remote location in Cumbria. Sixty-seven per cent of participants were female.

This is all underpinned by United Utilities’ ambition to equip future generations in the North West with the skills to successfully enter the changing labour market, and empower them to achieve their goals in life, and helps boost the prospects of young people in the region. More fundamentally, the water-theme of the workshops also align with the purpose of the water company.

The company has also introduced its new online educational resource: the home learning hub.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant closures, this was an important step to help overcome the challenges of homeschooling, and maintaining the engagement with the school curriculum.

Promoting STEM Careers Against the backdrop of a significant gap in participation in STEM disciplines across the UK, United Utilities has a large focus on promoting STEM careers in underrepresented areas across the North West region.

United Utilities has a strategic partnership with All About STEM, a team of experts in STEM engagement whose efforts focus across Merseyside, Cheshire and Warrington within its service area. United Utilities employees have supported the initiative by participating in Engineering Your Future and The Big Bang North West events, and by visiting career fairs and secondary schools to promote technical roles in the water sector.

At the Engineering Your Future event, United Utilities hosted practical experiments for sixth form students to engage with the science behind the water industry. The sixth formers, from schools across local communities, had the opportunity to learn

about water cycles, alongside presentations on how engineering is used to handle excess rainfall, clean the water and recycle it.

United Utilities is also an annual supporter and partner of The Big Bang North West, which is a large engagement event focused on students, which hosts a huge show floor packed with interactive, hands-on STEM activities from inspirational exhibitors. It focuses on demonstrating the exciting elements across STEM disciplines, from gadgets, robots, coding, forensics and scientific magic - it brings to life what futures in STEM academic/vocational discipline and careers can hold.

United Utilities has also participated in a two year partnership with Teach First, a charity committed to ending educational inequality. In the North West, only 30 percent of pupils who are eligible for free school meals will achieve five A*-C grades at GCSE, compared to 60 per cent of their peers. Teach First develop leaders to teach in challenged schools and encourage students from low-income backgrounds to reach their full potential.

United Utilities has also joined forces with Youth Focus North West and co-created materials on money management to give young people better financial skills for living.

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OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE NORTH WEST Having addressed the necessity of engaging with schools and promoting pathways into STEM careers and boosting aspirations, that is when creating the opportunities to progress, becomes crucial. This forms the next step in the chronological approach.

Research shows that young people from disadvantaged families find it harder than ever to secure professional jobs. Such findings have inspired United Utilities commitment to social mobility, diversity and inclusion. The business offers young people the opportunity to explore their future potential, inspiring them and improving their career prospects.

United Utilities has created a series of opportunities to create access for young people who might not typically receive the opportunities to experience the working environment, particularly within either the more vocational or professional service-type opportunities within a such large organisation.

These opportunities include placements on its youth programme which is targeted exclusively at those NEETs, creating accessible small steps for young people to gain a view into the working environment; and more formal apprenticeship programmes, which can even form the next progression step from the Youth Programme, and graduate schemes.

Its programmes have proven to reach low social mobility areas, children of all ages and groups unfairly disadvantaged in various different ways.

Through embedding this into a model of creating real opportunities, United Utilities has demonstrated that social mobility really is at the 06 18

heart of how it does business - and isn’t just an additional ‘CSR’ programme on the periphery of its business activities.

on the programme is the Army Reserves team building day, when they spend a day with the local army learning team building and communication skills.

Youth Programme

The participants complete a four-week work placement with either United Utilities or one of their supply chain partners.

United Utilities’ youth programme targets deprived young people from across the company’s North West service area.

Its supply chain is an integral part of the success of the programme, providing placements and opportunities in different business areas across the North West.

It is designed to help 18-24 year olds, who are not in employment, education or training to become work-ready; and results suggest it is having a major positive impact.

Over 75 per cent of participants who have completed the programme have gone on to secure paid work, with half of those starting their working lives at United Utilities.

The programme gives the participants six separate qualifications to enhance their CVs including: first aid at work, employability skills and health and safety awareness. It also addresses several barriers which prevent disadvantaged young people from accessing a career path.

Focus areas include building confidence, developing a routine, self-motivation, navigating public transport and skills development - all learning styles are catered for.

Opportunities are provided in a broad spectrum of settings such as classrooms, workplaces and volunteering positions and within team-building exercises. The participants say one of the best days 07 19

CASE STUDY Erin Thompson - Apprentice Data Administrator My name is Erin Thompson, I am 22 from Warrington. Currently, I’m a Data Administrator Apprentice with United Utilities.

When I left school I went to college for two years studying level 2 and 3 Beauty Therapy and level 3 Nails. Then I went on to get part-time work in various salons, restaurants and completed an Interserve learning course. For a while I was out of work before I took the opportunity to join United Utilities on the youth programme. If it wasn’t for the opportunity that United Utilities gave me I wouldn’t be where I am today.

On the graduation day I got excellent feedback from my placement at Stantec, but unfortunately I didn’t get offered a job at the time because they didn’t have any vacancies. However, from networking, I met my current manager and was offered a three month contract, which got extended, and allowed me to progress onto the apprentice scheme.

United Utilities has genuinely changed my life. It has helped me progress by giving me new opportunities to learn and challenge myself, alongside developing my skills and confidence.

I have learned a lot of unique skills from working in different departments such as building SharePoint sites, Microsoft skills, new communication skills, taking calls and helping with events. For example, 20

I have led an awareness day for dyslexia within the organisation and had the opportunity to interview Louise Beardmore, Customer Services and People Director, as part of the awareness raising. To this day other employees still get in touch to get help. I am on track with my college milestones and continue to receive excellent feedback. I am proud to have demonstrated my hard work, commitment and teamwork. Being at United Utilities has pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped me grow as a person.

My aspiration is to use my apprenticeship to move around the business, taking the opportunity to work in as many different departments as possible and attend training courses to further develop my skills.

After my apprenticeship I would like to go into a full time role, or continue onto further training with the possibility of working in a management role.

My confidence has grown a lot because I now know that I can push myself and take on new challenges.

For example, I was previously very daunted about presenting in front of other colleagues. However, by practicing presenting to people in work I now feel comfortable presenting and now do it regularly in college. I have also taken part in a film project to raise awareness around dyslexia and promoted the United Utilities youth programme.

I am proud to share my journey since I started in April 2018 and how the opportunities at United Utilities have helped me get where I am today.

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CASE STUDY Natalie Carver - Senior Purchasing Assistant After Natalie finished college, she was unemployed for six months and uncertain about how to forge a future career.

She then discovered a United Utilities-backed initiative for NEETS – people not in education, employment or training.

The course saw Natalie working in supply chain purchasing as a purchasing assistant at the company.

The experience enabled her to “build confidence in myself”, she says.

Natalie now hopes to pursue a career as a quantity surveyor. Her experiences with United Utilities have given her more ambition, as well as confidence.

She aims to put both this essential, positive mindset into action as she works towards an exciting new career.

“It has improved my confidence and shown me different career progressions I wouldn’t have thought about otherwise. I also developed more financial knowledge and improved my IT software skills”

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APPRENTICESHIPS Apprenticeships are a core part of United Utilities’ ongoing recruitment and continual advancement as a company.

They are an important driver of social mobility, enabling young people to forge exciting careers within an organisation that supports their progression. They are also a potential next step in the progression chain which United Utilities has created, with strong examples of apprentices who have progressed onto their schemes from the Youth Programme, having prior started NEET. Of the most recent intake, 100 per cent of Apprentices secured roles within the firm and are now working towards well paid, highly skilled jobs in the group. In addition, United Utilities works hard to ensure that opportunities are available following the schemes, if not within the company itself, then its supply chain.

Apprenticeships are provided in the North West region and are designed to develop the next generation of engineering, treatment plant, head office and technical staff.

United Utilities is investing significantly in training its apprentices. For example, it has invested £1.5m in establishing in the Bolton Technical Training Centre.

With 108 apprenticeships currently in progress, the firm is accredited on the Register of Apprentice Training Providers to deliver the schemes internally at the Centre.

It achieved a ‘very good’ Ofsted rating for this work and is the only water company with internal capability to deliver apprenticeship schemes.

United Utilities has also been heavily involved in shaping industry standards for apprentices in the industry. As part of the Trailblazer group, it has developed both the Water Process Technician (WPT) industry standard (involving five pathways) and the Utilities Engineering Technician (UET) Industry Standard (featuring three pathways).

It has successfully been establishing these standards within its apprentice population since 2014 and continues to be involved in the development and publication of new industry standards.

These include the Level 2 Water Process Operative and the Level 2 Water Network Operative standards.

The company’s health, safety and technical training manager, Matt Heaton, is the current chair of the Water Assessment and Technical Assurance Panel for the Industry Standards, a forum for all Water Companies under the coordination of Energy and Utility Skills. Matt also represents the industry on the Energy and Utilities Independent Assessment Service (EUIAS) Governing Body.

United Utilities is currently drawing down approximately 75 per cent of its apprentice levy on a monthly basis to fund the development schemes it delivers across the business.

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CASE STUDY Abdul Ghafaar - Apprentice Field Service Engineer Prior to starting at United Utilities in September 2016, I completed a BA in Islamic theology at a boarding school. I feel as though I was nurtured from a young age to understand responsibility and undertake community roles. Due to this, I have worked with a number of charities and also worked with state schools which cater for the students that also attend the local mosques in the area.

The mosques in my locality are where much of my volunteering work takes place.

requirements which revolved around my work life and have continually pursued them. Within a relatively short time at the company I have had the chance to sample many departments of a FTSE100 company and can gauge the intricacy of the Water Sector.

I joined United Utilities as an ICA apprentice on a four year scheme and have grown personally and professionally. I understood the different

• Being a current member of the employee voice panel where feedback company-wide is provided to the company directors.

Some of my memorable personal developmental experiences are:

• Being a current member of the multi-cultural group where insight is provided into different aspects of diversity and inclusion.

United Utilities has given me the work/life balance that I was looking for. As a result, I am able to carry out my volunteering requirements outside of the workplace. I have undertaken many courses that relate to my day job and I am striving to complete an HNC in electrics/electronics at Trafford College after having completed a BTEC in engineering. I feel as though the brilliant United Utilities flexible working policy has made my life very easy in which I am able to perform my religious obligations alongside my work.

My career ambitions revolve around progression, personal and professional. I know the company values their staff and I have opportunities, many of which I did not have before I started at United Utilities.

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are currently “There 37 graduates on

• Being part of the early careers board - helping new starters into their careers.

schemes within the business, with a further 12 starting by the end of 2020

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GRADUATE SCHEME A university degree can be a catalyst for social mobility, enabling individuals to progress further in life than their parents.

Participants undergo two years of first-class training, designed to prime them for successful careers within the company.

Yet many graduates struggle to get on a career path once their studies are over, often due to a lack of graduate opportunities in their local area.

These cover a range of programmes including Engineering, Future Leadership, Finance, Project Management and IT Security.

United Utilities is addressing this in the North West through its graduate scheme. Opportunities for graduates include its ‘Future Leaders’ programme and individual schemes in Engineering, Financing and Water Resources.

The company has an impressively high graduate retention rate of 91 per cent since 2015.

It also funds and supports around 100 employees through further education each year, via a range of disciplines and institutions.

25

CASE STUDY Katie Moffatt - Social Mobility Manager Social mobility means a great deal to me. In fact, I see my greatest achievement as becoming Social Mobility Manager of the North West’s only FTSE100 company. I’m extremely proud to be managing an agenda I feel so passionately about and supporting a cause that’s close to my heart.

I was born and lived in Barrow-in-Furness until the age of 18, when I left to go to University. Barrow is an area of extremely low social mobility and is listed as one of the most deprived and disadvantaged towns in the UK. The majority of my friends wanted to work in the local shipyard after college. The few that did go to university chose to live at home and commute.

Staying as close to home as possible was the norm for people in my area. I was different. I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone, therefore I took a leap of faith and decided to go to university three hours away from home. I was determined to build a life for myself outside of the close knit community I grew up in, much to the discouragement of my friends, teachers and peers.

At university I studied journalism; I’ve always had a burning desire to help and support people from all walks of life, to share their stories; to give them a voice.

Three years into my journalism career, I decided to leave the industry to join the United Utilities Graduate Scheme and, honestly, I’ve never looked back. My passion for people was recognised and now I’m working in a role where I can really make a difference on issues that truly matter to me. I honestly love every aspect of my role but seeing 26

people’s lives change as a result of one of our programmes is extremely rewarding.

Every day, I see first hand how our programmes really do change lives. Our social mobility agenda not only supports our communities, but brings massive business benefits too. Diversity of thought and valuing difference positively impacts engagement two fold. Positive engagement benefits our employees as well as the perception of our business across the wider community.

Over the past two years, I’ve had the pleasure of working with local schools, businesses, universities, charities and community organisations to deliver social mobility projects. We specifically target certain communities to provide enrichment, education and employment opportunities to the people that need it most. The support and true appreciation we get from everybody we work with highlights the benefit our opportunities bring to people and communities across the North West.

I strongly believe that you are not defined by your socio-economic background. I want people to understand that regardless of your status, background, education, gender or culture, you can achieve their dreams and you can defy the odds.

My main advice to the people I work with is, “you can always unlock your full potential with a little bit of grit and determination. Look beyond the circumstances that may have defined you thus far, overcome them and always remember, the best is yet to come!

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CASE STUDY Jack Molyneux -Streetworks Compliance Assistant My name is Jack Molyneux, I’m 22 years old from Culcheth. I’m currently working for the Street works team at United Utilities but due to start a new permanent job role as a Project Administrator.

After 2 years at college, I was an apprentice at the Department for Work and Pensions where I obtained Administrative skills. I always knew that I wanted to go into that line of work. When my apprenticeship finished at DWP I had no idea what steps to take next to find employment.

I found out about the NEET program from the Job Centre and I can honestly say it was one of the best courses I’ve ever been on, I met some wonderful people and friends for life who I still speak with on a daily basis in and out of work.

This led me to joining a fantastic agency called Rullion where I started working on a team as a 3 month temporary worker which was extended and I had been a member of Streetworks team for 18 months now. During my time as a Streetworks Compliance Assistant, I learnt a lot of valuable business skills, interview skills, confidence skills and generally how the business works.

I also have a greater understanding of all the Microsoft systems and general communication with people at all levels in the company and 28

gained so much life experience and job advice from my colleges and managers.

I aspire to use all the skills I’ve obtained along the way in my career to do the very best I can in my new recent permanent job role at United Utilities as a Project Administrator and I hope to keep progressing and learning further. I would highly recommend the NEET program and I’m so grateful I had the chance to be a part of the programme and gain a permanent position to plan for my future.

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INVESTING IN ITS PEOPLE Developing, Supporting, Empowering Culture isn’t something that can be created or implemented, it’s something that a company lives through its people everyday. United Utilities is committed to having the best possible culture, being a great place to work, and where people can thrive.

It understands that this all starts with engagement, but also the business case for this. For every onepoint increase in employee engagement, quality of customer services can be seen to increase by at least 0.41 points. Therefore, for businesses to be successful, a significant factor is the happiness and engagement of its employees, and how fulfilled they are at work every day.

It might not therefore come as a surprise that United Utilities, in demonstrating a clear understanding of this, has demonstrated leading practice internally in its focus on its people.

The Social Mobility Pledge has interpreted the internal leading practice across three strands, in how United Utilities has focused on development, support and empowerment of its people.

This effort ensures that the internal progress needed to drive social mobility is well supported.

The company currently delivers approximately 70 per cent of its training in house, with 30 per cent outsourced to external training providers.

All employees within United Utilities are actively encouraged to develop themselves through learning and gaining qualifications with accredited bodies to aid their professional and wider development. This forms a key pillar of United Utilities’ demonstration of developing all of its people.

Accredited qualifications which the company encourages its people to work towards include: • Institute of Leadership and Management • Institution of Engineering and Technology • Institution of Chemical Engineers

Developing

• Institution of Mechanical Engineers

In 2015 United Utilities opened a £1.5m technical training centre in Bolton with the aim of developing the next generation of engineers for the region.

• The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management

At the time, it set out plans to source over 1,000 engineers and technical employees by 2023 – and it is well on its way to achieving this ambitious target.

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United Utilities delivers in-house training across a number of curriculums including health and safety, technical, customer service, softer skills and project delivery.

• Chartered Institute of Management Accountants • Association of Project Management • Institute of Asset Management.

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Supporting

• Armed Forces network – supporting employees and their families who are ex-armed forces

Supporting is the second key interpretation of United Utilities’ leading practice internally.

The company has demonstrated this through its efforts on inclusion and diversity that have gone beyond what the Social Mobility Pledge considers ‘industry standard.’

• Multicultural network – celebrating people from all faiths, cultures, religions and backgrounds • Identity+ (LGBTq) network – supporting all of employees regardless of their sexual orientation.

Diversity and Inclusion Diversity is about creating access for talented people from all different backgrounds, and particularly underrepresented groups. Inclusion is about creating an environment they want to be in, stay with, and actively want to participate and engage in.

At United Utilities, diversity and inclusion are not just target-driven endeavours overseen by the HR Department. Instead, it is clear they underpin all aspects of the organisation - and particularly, inclusion is fundamental to supporting anyone, inside or outside of a business, and in any setting.

As a member of the 30% Club, United Utilities has publicly indicated their support for females holding at least 30% of executive committee board positions, and they are on track to achieve their own target of females making up 33% of the board, which was set for 2020.

They are also taking action in their succession plans to improve the representation of females at executive and senior management levels, which encompasses female representation in leadership positions across the entire company, not just at the very top executive levels.

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The company provides recruitment training for personnel with hiring responsibilities.

This also focuses on identifying and tackling unconscious bias. Further workplace training is given to managers to help them recognise and manage any instances of bullying, harassment or victimisation.

It also has employee-led ‘diversity networks’ which promote a tolerant and enlightened outlook within the company.

Career progress is also supported via employee networks, representing certain groups of employees that may face specific challenges.

Each of these internal networks is overseen by a senior leader and sponsor. They include: • Ability Network – provides support and guidance to employees who have disabilities or long term health conditions • Gender Equality network (GENEq) – aims to support, mentor, develop, inspire and promote the benefits of gender equality across the organisation

The company has hosted mentoring circles workshops for around 100 young people over a 3 month period across the North West.

Mentoring Mentoring is also a fundamental part to United Utilities’ efforts to help assist its people in their career journeys, and support them to achieving their career goals and ambitions.

New colleagues within the business are assigned ‘buddies’ with managers or senior team members who will be their mentor to help them succeed in their new roles, but also get the most out of their new experiences within such a large company.

The buddy mentoring process includes regular catch ups and twice-yearly appraisals to support colleagues and help keep them on track.

Enabling people with disabilities to fulfil their career potential United Utilities has achieved ‘Disability Confident’ status as an employer. This is a government scheme which recognises organisations playing a leading role

in changing attitudes for the better - and reaping the benefits of inclusive recruitment practices.

To achieve this status, the company complies with a number of measures that ensure it is: • Challenging attitudes towards disability and increasing understanding of it.

• Removing barriers to disabled people and those with long-term health conditions.

• Ensuring that disabled people have the opportunities to fulfil their potential and realise their aspirations.

Empowering United Utilities is a people-driven business and it wants to focus on finding new ways of empowering its people to make their own decisions based on their knowledge and experiences, which has the potential to boost engagement on fulfilment in everyday work.

This theme of empowerment was clearly exemplified

by Customer Service Director Louise Beardmore’s changes to the Customer Service model, with a new approach labelled as ‘Make a Friend,’ which encouraged all of United Utilities’ customer service operatives to move away from script-based service, and towards a more personable approach, where they look to build relationships with customers, and make services less transactional, treating each interaction with a customer like a friend.

Following the introduction of ‘Make a Friend’ and the new approach to customer service through empowerment, employee engagement levels were increased by 91% and written customer complaints were reduced by 50%.

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INSIGHT AND ASSESSMENT The Social Mobility Pledge has set out to identify businesses that are leading in boosting social mobility across the UK in ways that contribute to unique and wider understanding.

United Utilities’ social mobility cycle flows through its local communities and right through the organisation.

It reaches the widest gaps in local communities through its leadership on the issue of the Affordability Gap, and making sure those in the most financially vulnerable circumstances aren’t left behind.

This is a strong and largely unique example of a large business exceeding expectations by proactively giving people a hand up - namely through its Affordability Summits, WaterSure tariffs, and helping those in debt get out of it - all culminating in ambitious aims to helping 250,000 customers with affordability problems by 2025.

Secondly, aligning once again with its purpose as a water company, it has set out to engage young people in local communities and in schools through engaging them in STEM disciplines, promoting education in these areas, and promoting careers within the industry. Against the backdrop of the Skills Gap being one of the most pressing economic issues the UK faces, and one of the most foremost social mobility barriers in connecting young people to opportunity, United Utilities’ work on this demonstrates how it is helping level up opportunities across the region.

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Following outreach and engagement, United Utilities has also set out to create opportunities to help those in the North West that are furthest away from opportunity, particularly in helping NEETs into employment through its Youth Programme.

This demonstrates another strong example of how United Utilities has actively set out to help the groups across the region that are the furthest away from opportunity, and hasn’t settled for things that are simply easy to do. Within this work, it has also demonstrated an outcomes-led approach, with approximately four-in-five of those participating in the Youth Programme progressing into employment.

United Utilities has also created a progression pathway from its Youth Programme, into other opportunities within the company, such as in its apprenticeships, or in its supply chain. Its apprenticeship programme has also proven itself to be a stand-alone engine of social mobility in the region, again in an outcomes-led way, with high rates of progression into permanent roles within the company. Last year, 100% of its apprentices progressed into full-time employment within the company.

United Utilities has also sought to create a more inclusive environment within the company, one that focuses on culture. It has demonstrated a strong

Last year, United “Utilities saw 100%

of its apprentices progress into full-time employment within the company.

”

understanding that culture isn’t something that can be created, but something that is lived, and best lived by high and positive engagement of its people. The Social Mobility Pledge finds United Utilities has highly effectively boosted engagement in three principal ways: developing, supporting, and empowering. Its apprenticeships training programmes have also been rated as ‘very good’ by Ofsted, a testament to the high quality of its learning and development.

Between 2015 and 2023 it is on track to develop over 1,000 engineering and technical employees, despite major challenges in this area facing engineering-relevant industries across the UK. This achievement is underpinned by a commitment to training and development that is also integral to its social mobility impact.

Through careful planning, significant investment and a long-term commitment to change, it is facing the social mobility challenge head on and providing a compelling example to other PLCs. It is that ability to set the agenda, as a powerful purpose led advocate, where United Utilities can drive change across the UK. Helping to shape a focus for Britain’s biggest companies on their least privileged communities and customers, boosting social mobility through the affordability agenda.

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RECOMMENDATIONS United Utilities has created an Opportunity Action Plan to highlight how it is progressing in its determination to support under-represented communities across the North West Region and to support its overall aim for other businesses across the Region to do the same. But it recognises that this all starts by leading as an example.

In the face of growing inequalities following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a widening opportunity gap, it is important for businesses to play a leading role in boosting opportunity and social mobility as part of the national recovery.

2 Supporting students from targeted communities by inspiring them to consider pursuing a STEM related career and by running employability skills sessions;

United Utilities recognises this in the context of its own local challenges.

3 Encouraging its supply chain and other businesses from across the region to sign up to the pledge and contribute to supporting people from low social mobility backgrounds.

Of all water companies in the United Kingdom, United Utilities has the service area with the highest percentage of deprived communities, according to the Index of Multiple Deprivation, shown in Appendix A.

Furthermore, in each of the above, United Utilities can look to increase engagement with less privileged communities, according to the Index of Multiple Deprivation, in Appendix B.

The Social Mobility Pledge recommends that over the next five years, United Utilities should continue to support under-represented communities by driving social mobility across the region in three ways.

With this targeted approach, focused on specific opportunity gaps, United Utilities can maximise its impact in the areas that are typically the furthest away from opportunities.

United Utilities should specifically focus on the following three priorities to ensure it continues to protect opportunity and work towards boosting social mobility across the North West: 1 Providing valuable and meaningful work experience to deprived and disadvantaged young people from across the region; 36

37

APPENDIX Appendix A: National Breakdown of Deprivation by Service Areas

Appendix B: Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) Service Area Regional Breakdown

Appendix A represents a breakdown of deprivation distribution by service area across water companies, according to the Index of Multiple Deprivation.

Appendix B represents a breakdown of the Index of Multiple Deprivation by Lower Super Output Area (LSOA) within United Utilities’ service area within the North West of England.

1% most deprived

5% most deprived

10% most deprived

20% most deprived

United Utilities

47%

36%

29%

23%

LSOA

Anglian

8% 6% 7% 8%

LSOA

Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) Rank

Blackpool 010A

2

Wirral 011C

19

Blackpool 006A

3

Blackpool 010B

20

Blackpool 013B

4

Wirral 016B

26

Severn Trent 9% 18% 20% 18%

Blackpool 013A

5

St. Helens 014E

27

South West 1% 1% 2% 2%

Blackpool 013D

6

Blackpool 010D

28

Thames

0% 1% 3% 9%

Blackpool 010E

7

Wessex

0% 0% 0% 0%

Blackburn with Darwen 009C

29

Blackpool 011A

8

Yorkshire

16% 18% 17% 14%

Liverpool 024A

30

Blackpool 008D

9

Affinity

1% 1% 2% 4%

Rochdale 010C

31

Liverpool 019C

10

Lancaster 009C

33

Blackpool 006B

11

Liverpool 028E

34

Blackpool 013C

12

Liverpool 018B

13

Blackburn with Darwen 006E

35

Burnley 007C

15

Liverpool 018E

37

Blackpool 008B

16

Liverpool 024B

43

Burnley 010E

17

Manchester 009A

49

Liverpool 012A

18

Bury 007E

50

Northumbrian 13% 10% 10% 9% Southern

2% 2% 3% 3%

Bournemouth 0% 0% Bristol

0% 0%

1% 2% 2% 2%

Portsmouth 0% 1% 1% 1% Sutton and East Surrey 0%

0%

0%

1%

South East 1% 1% 1% 1% South Staffs and Cambridge 1%

Index of Multiple Deprivation (2019) 38

Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) Rank

2%

3%

4%

39

LSOA

40

Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) Rank

LSOA

Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) Rank

LSOA

Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) Rank

LSOA

Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) Rank

Blackpool 007C

52

Blackpool 007D

92

Sefton 038D

128

Salford 024B

177

Sefton 034B

54

Salford 024D

93

Oldham 014D

129

Burnley 003D

180

Knowsley 008F

56

Wirral 008B

95

Liverpool 009C

132

Oldham 014C

181

Sefton 037B

57

Wyre 001F

96

Wigan 031A

135

Manchester 012D

183

Stockport 014D

58

Knowsley 006B

97

Manchester 002D

140

Lancaster 020H

188

Blackpool 011D

59

St. Helens 014D

98

Knowsley 010C

141

Manchester 050B

189

Burnley 014B

61

Barrow-in-Furness 008C

99

Manchester 050C

142

Blackpool 008A

190

Bolton 016C

65

Manchester 009B

100

Liverpool 043D

143

Oldham 029A

191

Knowsley 001D

66

Wirral 016E

102

Knowsley 007A

153

Stockport 014B

193

Stockport 004B

69

Knowsley 003B

103

Wirral 011B

157

Liverpool 039C

196

Sefton 036B

71

Liverpool 028C

105

Liverpool 014C

158

Wirral 031E

199

Wirral 008C

73

Knowsley 008B

106

Rochdale 012E

159

Wirral 016A

200

Wigan 009C

77

Sefton 036C

108

Knowsley 003C

162

Salford 001E

201

Manchester 009G

79

Blackpool 010C

110

Liverpool 014D

165

Barrow-in-Furness 004A

204

Wirral 016C

80

St. Helens 022D

112

Liverpool 023A

168

Rochdale 010D

205

Knowsley 001C

82

Liverpool 018F

114

Manchester 011D

169

Lancaster 009A

210

Wirral 016D

84

Liverpool 022E

116

Liverpool 006C

170

Barrow-in-Furness 010B

213

Oldham 014B

86

Liverpool 019E

118

Liverpool 022D

173

Salford 025A

214

Blackpool 007B

87

St. Helens 017B

119

Wirral 011E

174

Wirral 005D

215

Knowsley 001A

89

Liverpool 024C

121

Salford 017C

175

Salford 022D

217

Stockport 004D

90

Wirral 027C

124

St. Helens 012D

176

Manchester 012E

219

41

LSOA

Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) Rank

Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) Rank

Manchester 003C

223

Liverpool 012E

276

Manchester 011B

224

Knowsley 008E

277

Wirral 011D

233

Manchester 009E

278

Blackpool 006C

234

Blackpool 008C

279

Tameside 013D

237

Salford 017B

280

Knowsley 004A

238

St. Helens 011C

281

Blackpool 014A

239

Oldham 012A

283

Hyndburn 008B

241

Liverpool 019D

287

Liverpool 017B

245

Liverpool 015C

288

Liverpool 044B

247

Sefton 034C

296

Manchester 056D

251

Liverpool 050B

298

Sefton 037C

257

Liverpool 030A

299

Manchester 013G

262

Wigan 010C

300

Manchester 020A

263

Liverpool 005D

301

Knowsley 006A

264

Manchester 006B

311

Liverpool 014E

266

Manchester 049C

312

Knowsley 010B

267

Knowsley 008A

317

Wirral 008E

273

Barrow-in-Furness 007A

324

Liverpool 039B

275

Liverpool 014A

325

Index of Multiple Deprivation (2019) 42

LSOA