Significant pockets of social deprivation are reported to exist in communities adjacent to affluent businesses based in Hertfordshire and surprising levels of need exist in areas close to our offices in Borehamwood. Some of the underlying causes are reported to include low income, poor health and educational challenges with similar challenges being reported to exist within communities in Hatfield and Cheshunt.

As a responsible Hertfordshire-based business, we aim to procure goods and services from Hertfordshire-based SMEs. We also understand our role in providing access to employment opportunities for people living in our locality.

A good proportion of people employed at our head offices live within Hertfordshire and we are working to improve our reach engaging with Hertfordshire Services for Young People (SfYP), an organisation providing targeted support to young people facing serious challenges in their lives.

GSS has committed to providing several one-week work experience placements to Year 10 pupils referred by schools across Hertfordshire to SfYP. These placements provide a vital connection to employers, helping to widen the options and aspirations of the young people involved. With youth unemployment on the rise in the UK and social mobility on the decline, these partnerships with local community organisations are vital.

The construction industry can be a lever for social justice.This is why our parent company Morrisroe Group has made a three-year commitment to directly fund the work of the Construction Youth Trust (CYT). CYT leverages construction industry employer networks so that disadvantaged school leavers can secure a better start in life. In parallel, they run targeted programmes that connect young people from underrepresented groups and low-income backgrounds with construction employers and the opportunities they would not otherwise have considered.