At Hays, we want to make a difference in construction and property by helping to build stronger communities through our volunteering, community work and our partnerships.
One of our core values at Hays is to ‘do the right thing’, which is why we’re passionate about creating social value and a better tomorrow for our candidates, clients and local communities.
We have a large team of expert construction and property consultants operating in 65 offices across the UK, including London, Manchester, Bristol, Glasgow and Liverpool. We have recruitments specialists working across all areas of the industry, including property, design, property services, construction, building services, and health and safety.
We have an established programme, ‘helping for your tomorrow’, which allows our employees to take one paid volunteering day each year and give back to the communities in which we operate. Take a look at some of the great charity and community work that our team have been doing across the country.
The team in central London has partnered with Lambeth Council and Ingeus to support Lambeth residents to find jobs in the area. They’ve already met with more than 20 individuals to connect them with local employers. The partnership drives positive social value outcomes and supports the Section 106 agreements made by the Council and other organisations.
As part of our partnership with BoB, the trades team in Kent met with 240 construction workers working on Barratt Developments sites across the region to raise awareness about the mental health support available to them.
In recent years we’ve run a campaign with Neighbourly, a platform that enables businesses to make a positive impact in their communities by connecting them with charitable causes and local volunteering opportunities. As part of this initiative, the team in Cambridge visited Trumpington Orchard, where they helped by gardening and repurposing an old picnic bench into a raised flower bed for the space.
As part of our ‘helping for your tomorrow’ initiative, the team in Cambridge volunteered at the Papworth Trust, a leading disability charity that supports thousands of people, their families and carers every year. They cleared the area of rocks and debris and formed a new path from used paving slabs.
The CvC is the annual charity rugby and hockey match for the Cambridge construction industry and the games have raised £24,500 to date for charity. The 2024 event generated £7,000 for LandAid and Hays was proud to sponsor the ‘player of the match’ awards.
At Hays, we're delighted to work in partnership with the Cambridge Regional College. The East Anglia team recently attended a careers fair in Cambridge, as part of National Careers Week, where they were able to speak to the next generation of talent about market trends and potential career paths in construction and property.
A Big Brew event was recently hosted by Band of Builders (BoB) and Hays at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital’s Community Diagnostic Centre (NNUH CDC), a project being delivered by Morgan Sindall Construction. Some hard-hitting statistics surrounding mental health in construction were shared and the workers had the opportunity to take a break and speak to their colleagues openly about their mental wellbeing.
The team in Birmingham got involved with our ‘Hays Gets Neighbourly’ volunteering campaign by supporting a local Scout Group with clearing and preparing the grounds for their summer fair.
Key4Life is a charity that aims to reduce youth re-offending through its delivery of an innovative rehabilitation programme to those in prison or at risk of going to prison. Two senior Hays employees recently visited HMP Fosse Way in Leicester with Key4Life to provide mock interviews and career advice to the young people there.
Fedcap is a not-for-profit organisation committed to improving people’s economic wellbeing, which specialises in finding work for those who are unemployed. Bex Ward, a business manager from the Preston office, attended a job fair in Accrington alongside Fedcap to speak to people about work opportunities on a large Morgan Sindall project in the local area.
The Sleep Out with Nugent, sponsored by Krol Corlett Construction, took place at the Merseyside Maritime Museum in the Albert Docks. Two senior Hays employees took part in the Sleep Out event, which raised more than £15,000. The money raised is directed towards addressing homelessness in Liverpool, with a particular focus on individuals fleeing domestic violence, care leavers and anyone who finds themselves in a vulnerable position.
Let’s Grow Preston is an environmental charity based in Preston, Lancashire. They run three community gardens and promote physical and mental wellbeing through their volunteering opportunities in green spaces. The Preston office recently spent the day at the Grange Community Gardens, where they helped with weeding, planting vegetables, potting plants and the general maintenance of the site.
The recent ‘Getting Connected’ event celebrated a significant milestone in the £20 million regeneration project for Accrington Town Square – the enabling of work onsite by Morgan Sindall Construction’s North West team. The funding for the project was secured through the Levelling Up Fund and includes the restoration of Accrington Market Hall, Burtons Chambers and Market Chambers. Christopher Grogan, one of our principal recruitment consultants, met with local businesses and members of the general public at the event, to discuss our plans to supply this fantastic project with local labour.
Two Hays employees from the Liverpool office recently attended the West Lancashire College Careers Fair, along with 1000 pupils and 700 college students. The consultants were able to share advice and industry insights with the visitors, and hopefully inspired some young people to consider a career in construction.
Barry Fellowes is a senior business director at Hays and leads the construction business in the North West of England. He’s been with Hays since 2006 and has a proven track record of delivering success within the North West market for SMEs and Tier 1 clients. He has delivered recruitment solutions for clients in the industrial and residential sectors, including in refurbishment, fit-out and retrofit in education, commercial and retail – supplying site managers, engineers, quantity surveyors and estimators.
Aiva was left with severe learning difficulties after seizures in her sleep caused damage to her brain. A senior business director at Hays reached out to a client who runs a volunteer group and connected them with the team at Band of Builders. The group were able to support Aiva’s project by providing free materials and creating a safe place for her to play.
The CIOB is the leading professional body for those working in and leading the construction industry. We recently sponsored a ‘Meet the CIOB’ event at the Europa Hotel in Belfast, which had over 140 attendees. Oliver Smith, a senior business director at Hays, delivered a presentation that was very well received by all.
NI Hospice is a charity that offers specialist respite, symptom management and end of life palliative care to 4,000 infants, children and adults each year across Northern Ireland. Some senior employees at Hays used their volunteering day to assist with the ground maintenance at the hospice.
MACS is a charity that supports children and young people across Northern Ireland with services like supported housing, floating support, shared tenancies and wellbeing support. Some members of the Hays team in Belfast participated in the most recent MACS Sleep Out at Banana Block. They raised over £4,000, which will help to improve the lives of young people in Northern Ireland.
The goal of The Warehouse Newtownards is to serve the local community in any way that they can. Some employees from our Belfast office contributed to the project by providing Christmas hampers to those in need.
L’Arche is an international federation of 140 communities worldwide that promotes strong community-based care and support services. It creates opportunities for people who have learning disabilities to take up their place in their local communities, realise their potential and be enabled to make an active contribution to society. Volunteers from Hays visited the allotment in Castlereagh to help with groundworks, painting, gardening and deep cleaning.
YES offers a wide variety of enterprise and financial education programmes and development opportunities for young people across Scotland. Hays’ partnership with Neighbourly has enabled the team in Glasgow to collaborate with YES on various projects, including circular economy projects in schools, supporting young entrepreneurs at #girlboss presentations and contributing to maintenance work at the Rouken Glen site.
CIBSE Scotland’s annual conference, Retrofit2Perform, addressed the challenges associated with retrofitting existing building stock and the opportunities this presents for building services and built environment professionals. The event allowed the team to network with experts and discuss how to reduce emissions from new and existing buildings.
CIBSE YEN Scotland is a network of regional centres that aims to provide a forum and support network for young engineers within CIBSE. The team in Glasgow invited YEN and Kooltech Ltd, a leading distributor of refrigeration and air conditioning products, into our office for a networking event, which involved an air-source heat pump teardown.
Claire Sheerin, director at Hays, took part in a panel discussion at The University of Stirling’s International Talent Symposium. The event was aimed at skilled graduates looking for their first roles in the Scottish employment market. The panellists included alumni from the University of Stirling and industry leaders, who discussed how to grow Scotland’s talent market.
The IAmBlack Conference is an event focused on unleashing the power of black talent and employer brands. Hays sponsored and attended the most recent conference in Glasgow, where our consultants networked and shared career advice with the attendees.
Ben Brown, a senior manager in Leeds, was involved in delivering a CV workshop at HMP Millsike to develop the attendees’ CV writing and employability skills.
Richard Hattersley, regional business director at Hays, and Lindsay Bell, senior manager at Hays, visited Kier’s NETPark construction site in Sedgefield, accompanied by the operational director at Band of Builders (BoB). The visit helped to raise awareness about BoB’s 24/7 text helpline and the Big Brew initiative.
The S2 Food Bank provides food parcels and information about financial management to people who live in the S2 and S12 postcode area of Sheffield. Volunteers from Hays helped out in the food bank and community shop, sorting out the donations.
Roundabout is South Yorkshire’s local youth housing charity that provides shelter, support and life skills to young people aged 16 to 25 who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. A number of Hays employees volunteered their time to paint and decorate a flat that Roundabout secured for a young person who had previously experienced homelessness.
Some other Hays employees used their volunteering day to build fences and tidy up a garden area that’s used by Roundabout. This work saved the charity hundreds of pounds, which can be used to improve the properties they provide to young people.
The Bristol team spent a worthwhile day gardening at Percy Walker Court, a retirement housing complex in Downend, as part of the ‘Hays Gets Neighbourly’ volunteering campaign.
Bristol City Council’s housing company, Goram Homes, has launched a skills academy to provide free training and support for people interested in working in construction. The training centre is based at Goram Homes’ One Lockleaze development site in Bristol and its aim is to empower individuals to kickstart their careers in construction. Ellis Tremlett, a senior consultant from Bristol, has been working with the academy attendees to connect them with job opportunities in the construction industry.
Julian House is a charity that supports vulnerable individuals across South West England, including those experiencing homelessness or escaping domestic abuse, adults with learning difficulties and people leaving prison. Hays employees in the region have supported the charity with various volunteering projects, including cooking lunches for people staying in their hostel and organising clothes collections for their charity shop that funds their supported housing initiative.
St Mungo’s works directly with people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. They provide individuals with services that meets them wherever they are, from rough sleeping support and emergency accommodation, to finding longer-term homes and developing the skills needed for the world of work. St Mungo’s also influences policy makers to enact positive change. Some Hays employees from the Bristol office organised gift donations for the charity and volunteered their time to wrap and deliver the gifts to people across St Mungo’s hostels and mental health services during the festive period.
Bristol’s Recovery Festival was established as a free, volunteer-led event with a sole focus on bringing people together from recovery communities across the South West, along with local peer-led communities, and drug and alcohol treatment providers. Chloe Rimmer, a senior recruitment consultant for social housing in the region, assisted with the design and distribution of the festival posters. In return, Chloe was able to set up a stall at the festival and share career advice with people in recovery wanting to return to work.
1625 Independent People works with young people aged between 16 and 25 years-old in the South West of England. They work to prevent youth homelessness and help vulnerable young people thrive. The Hays team in Bristol took part in the most recent Sleep Out event and raised £1300 for the charity.
We have a deep understanding of the needs of our candidates to be able to match them with the organisations and roles that are right for them. This includes helping professionals find meaningful work after long-term unemployment or through back to work schemes. Check out a few of our candidate success stories below.
The InsideOut Awards are an annual celebration of the organisations, initiatives and individuals who champion mental health and wellbeing in the workplace. In 2024, we were highly commended for our involvement in mental health initiatives in the construction industry, one of these being our partnership with Band of Builders (BoB). We’ve worked with BoB since June 2023 and, in that time, we’ve helped to raise awareness about poor mental health and mental ill health in the workplace and supported staff on around 600 sites to have more open discussions about these topics.
Through our unique recruitment partnership with EveryYouth, we’re committed to help improve the social mobility of young people and end youth homelessness. We’ve launched Flourish in collaboration with EveryYouth – a pro-bono service for organisations that supports the employment of disadvantaged young people and allows them to develop and ‘flourish’ once they’re in the role.
The Retrofit Academy is a Community Interest Company that’s on a mission to train 200,000 retrofit professionals by 2030. These tradespeople and professionals will be needed to retrofit thousands of homes, especially those in the social housing sector and those living in fuel poverty. Through our recruitment partnership with the Retrofit Academy, we aim to provide professionals with relevant retrofit training and qualifications and support our clients in this sector to achieve their net zero targets.
Women make up less than 16% of the workforce in construction, according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The Women in Construction Awards was set up in 2022 to celebrate women working in the industry and raise awareness about the current gender disparity in construction. We are proud to have sponsored the awards in 2022, 2023 and 2024, showcasing our industry expertise and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) is the leading professional body for those working in and leading the construction industry. We were delighted to sponsor the Sustainability Award at the recent CIOB Awards, which celebrates those who have made their mark on sustainability within the built environment.
We’re proud to partner with Band of Builders (BoB), a charitable organisation that provides mental health support within the construction and property sector. According to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), workers in construction are nearly four times more likely to die by suicide than in any other sector. BoB have set up a 24/7 text helpline that workers in the industry can use to access confidential support from mental health professionals. To spread the word about this fantastic service, we give merchandise to our clients that carries the ‘Text BOB 85258’ logo.
We also regularly partake in BoB’s Big Brew initiative, which encourages construction workers and tradespeople to come together to support one another and tackle the stigma around mental health.
The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) is the professional body that exists to advance and promote building services engineering. CIBSE and its members drive better performance in the built environment through unlocking economic, environmental and social value. We are looking forward to sponsoring the CIBSE Undergraduate of the Year Award at the Young Engineers Awards.
If you want access to expert insights and career advice from top professionals in the construction and property space, then check out our Building Futures: Career Conversations video series. We interview influential leaders to find out about their career paths, their top tips for professionals in the industry and more.
You can also access all the episodes as a podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Phil Jackson has been working at Hays for over 26 years. He has a wide range of experience in client development, account management, and operational strategy and delivery. As a director, Phil is currently responsible for the construction, building services, and health and safety divisions in the UK and Ireland, consisting of a team of over 120 specialist recruitment consultants.
phil.jackson@hays.comTony Bird has over 20 years of recruitment experience within Hays, 15 of which have been focused on the property services sector. In his current role as director, he leads our property services division in the UK and Ireland, working across public estates, private estates and social housing. Our motto is ‘what we do matters’, as we understand the impact that our candidates can have on the communities they serve.
tony.bird@hays.com
Rebecca Booth has over 20 years of recruitment experience and has worked across social housing, facilities management, property development, real estate and design. At Hays, Rebecca leads the property and design business and has a team of over 80 recruitment consultants who specialise in technical surveying, project management, general practice, planning, architecture, facilities management and real estate services.
rebecca.booth@hays.com