Why Henry Boot has decided to relocate head office to Sheffield city centre: Jack Kidder

For us though, this is more than just an office move. It returns us to our roots: Isaacs is just a stone’s throw from our founder’s original base on Moore Street. But it has also pushed us all to think about what we do and why we do it.

For me in my role as Responsible Business Manager, that’s thinking about how Henry Boot can create more meaningful and long-term value in the projects we deliver. We look at this through four pillars, taking in planet (our environmental impact), places (how we invest in our communities), people (looking after our hardworking colleagues) and partners (more meaningful collaboration in what we do).

The new HQ provides a modern and contemporary working environment for our people to enjoy.

The space is designed to encourage collaboration and with the wellbeing of our people front and centre, we are already seeing the benefits of this as our people are thriving in the new space and working more closely together than ever before.

Our building also provides a huge step forward in environmental performance. The Isaacs Building is significantly more energy efficient than our previous HQ with excellent public transport links and facilities for those who travel on foot or by bike. This keeps energy costs down, encourages active travel, and most importantly cuts carbon emissions too.

Meanwhile, being in the city re-establishes Henry Boot’s presence as a leading local business and has put social issues front and centre for our team.

Colleagues are loving being in a vibrant city centre and they’re getting a chance to work more closely on collaborative projects that will support the communities where we work across the UK.

There is evidence that upholding strong social values can help to attract people.

A study from Deloitte found that social impact work is extremely important to Gen Z – those born between the mid-1990s and early 2000s – who are now making decisions about which companies to work for.

Four in ten in this group said they have turned down roles from employers that don’t align with their values. It is essential that our values and responsible business ethos helps us continue to attract the best talent to work for our business.

For additional impact, partnerships are also key. Business in the Community (BITC), the charity set up by His Majesty The King, is one of the UK’s largest networks focused on building a fairer and greener world.

It helps engage and challenge businesses to be a collective force for good in society.

We’ve proudly joined forces with BITC on the Sheffield Pride of Place project, which is focused on tackling the inequalities impacting the local community and chaired by our CEO, Tim Roberts. We’re proud to support the scheme and its projects, including the development of a sensory garden for children and parents at Meynell Primary School in Sheffield.

Meanwhile, in the past couple of years our work with The Lighthouse Club, a construction industry charity, has been important in helping improve the emotional, physical and financial wellbeing of construction workers.

As a major contractor we take our responsibility to our industry seriously. Working with The Lighthouse Club means we’ve been able to help our team and sub-contractors with toolbox talks and specialist resources focused on protecting their mental health.

Through the support of the charity we’ve been able to make our work even more impactful and hope to work with new partners to build on this and other support vital to our industry.

The beginning of a new year is always a great time to take stock – and be inspired. Our focus on planet, places, people and partners allows us to ensure we’re as impactful as possible, across all the communities we serve in Yorkshire and beyond.

Jack Kidder is responsible business manager at property developer Henry Boot