We won the Business Growth of the Year award as well as Apprentice Employer of the Year at a glitzy ceremony at the University of Exeter.
The first award of the night was the Apprentice Employer of the Year and we were up against the tough competition, our submission was about our overall apprentice’s achievements, the various promotions many have secured and the higher level qualifications many are working towards.
We also highlighted our generous apprenticeship salary and the fact that we promote apprenticeships internally to existing staff in order to support their learning and development.
LiveWest Talent Development Manager, Sara Boulter said: “We are delighted to have received Best Apprenticeship Employer. It is a testament to the motivation of all who work in LiveWest, who are enthused by housing providing a meaningful career and are keen to support others making their first steps into a business with a strong social purpose.
“We offer apprenticeships across the business, whatever your area of interest. Our focus on delivering great service can only be enhanced by welcoming customers into our apprenticeship programme so we are particularly keen to increase the number of applications we receive from our customers and their families.
“We don’t have any restrictions on age – all you need is the desire to learn, a positive outlook and the desire to be part of a great business that is having a positive impact on the lives of many in the South West.”
Our Business Growth of the Year submission centred on the £56m net surplus we generated last year, which is being re-invested into much-needed homes across the region.
Judges were impressed by the huge steps we are taking towards alleviating the region’s housing shortage in an area of high housing need as well as high house prices which make accessing housing particularly challenging for many families.
We also outlined the four key themes in our new strategy: ‘trusted by our customers; homes and communities that people love to live in; a staff team who are proud to work here; and a growing business that is fit for the future’.
The submission highlighted our focus on customer engagement which has seen results of more than 90 per cent in our customer satisfaction ratings. We talked about you as the cornerstone of our growth as we continue to focus on recruiting and retaining talented staff.
LiveWest Director of Strategy and Performance, Tom Woodman, said: “We want to continually improve and grow as a great employer and are really proud that this was recognised at the Exeter business awards.
“We are already managing 36,000 homes across the South West, and have developed a new strategy to invest over £2bn in developing 16,000 new homes over the next 10 years, stepping up our number of new homes from 1,047 last year, to 1,400 next year.
“Our growth strategy will not only contribute to economic growth in the South West but sustain up to 7, 000 jobs in the building industry and its supply chain.”