B Corp
Impact Repo rt 2023/24
Contents
About Elliott Wood Driving change 02
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Our journey Our impact Our plans 05
03
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We offer coworking spaces that bring our industry together, to educate, inspire, and action ideas not just for business but for social and environmental reform. Supported by a member network and a programme of events, these are more than simply workspaces, they’re a community that’s driven to engineer a better, and healthier society. The Society Building
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The Building Archives
We engineer a better society. We believe in a bigger and better idea of engineering. One driven by strategic consultancy and married with creative and technical expertise. Together we act as originators, advisors and doers for the built environment and beyond. As a certified B Corp, our role is to continue to inspire clients and organisations to think differently about their projects — not just aesthetically and commercially — but for the benefit of the planet and people who use them every day. Visit Us
As the built environment shifts from demolish and replace to adapt and renew, The Building Archives empower architects, engineers, and landowners to maximise the potential of existing building stock. As an open platform where practices can host their archive lists for free, we can maximise their potential — extending, refurbishing, and repurposing and hopefully, minimising the inclination to start anew.
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The built broken environment
By Gary Elliott Chief Executive at Elliott Wood
02
Paul Wood and I co-created Elliott Wood on Valentine’s Day 1994, with a strong belief that we could do better things. It was a different age — no mobiles, no internet, no BIM. Very basic computing power. John Major was Prime Minister, and the UNFCCC launched the same year in Rio de Janeiro. Cool Britannia was our backdrop, and the UK was changing with increased pride in the country’s culture. I was proud to be an engineer. I loved the work, the people, getting my hands dirty. We were one of the first to digitise our design work and recognise the negative impact the construction industry has on nature. But to make a difference we had to adapt as engineers and as a business. This collective determination started what has now evolved into our purpose of Engineering a Better Society. Simple words on paper but very hard to achieve. When I look around me in the office, I see our people, the innovation and the energy. It’s clear to me, just like that Valentine’s Day 30 years ago, that this is just the beginning. We have so much more to do and a big part of this is our accreditation as a B Corp. In what’s our first Impact Report, we explore this journey as well as our plans for the future. We see our accreditation as a recognition of the positive impact created through our projects and operations. But we also see it as a commitment — to continue to work collectively — for our industry, society and our living planet. Driving change Gary Elliott Chief Executive Elliott Wood
The impact of the UK’s built environment
Climate breakdown + resources
of all emissions 25%
of material use+ waste generation 60%
Nature
Since 1970, UK species have declined by about 19% on average
Nearly one in six UK species are threatened with extinction
-19%
Housing + health £1.2M £1.6B
In 2022, 1.2 million households were on the waiting list for social homes in England.
Between 2017 and 2025, air pollutants are predicted to cost the NHS and social care system £1.6 billion .
References
(1) https://ukgbc.org/our-work/topics/whole-life-carbon-roadmap/ (2) https://ukgbc.org/our-work/resource-use/ (3) https://naturalengland.blog.gov.uk/2023/09/29/state-of-nature/ (4) https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65733c1f049516000d49bf14/LT600_accessible.ods (5) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/air-pollution-applying-all-our-health/air-pollution-applying-all-our-health
Our journey so far...
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Members of the UK Green Building Council
• Structural Carbon Tool Launch • Full Circle to Reuse launch • BIM for a more Circular Economy • B Corp Certification process begins • Joins UK Structural Engineers Declare
30
• 30-year Anniversary • The Building Archives Launch • ETHICS 2.0 launch ETHICS 2.0 TBA
2012
Elliott Wood Founded in Wimbledon, London, UK EW
The Ned EABS
Sustainability Services Launch
Nottingham Office opens
Engineering a Better Society Launch
Burning Waste Man
2022
2010
2024
2021
2009
1994
2017
2006
2025
2023
2008
1999
2019
Central London Office opens
• Certified as a B Corp • T ower Hamlets Town Hall • The OWO • Development Infrastructure Services Launch • Circular Economy and Reuse Guidance for Designers Launch
BIM
Transport Carbon Tracker Launch
The Building Society Launch TBS ETHICS 1.0 ETHICS Framework and Manifesto Launch
• Launch BIM services • 8 5 Swains Lane
Quantum Cloud
Our team
“A s a milestone in our roadmap to Engineering a Better Society, our B Corp Certification gives us a framework to take action and quantify our impact for inspiring positive change across our industry”
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We improved our remuneration package and now offer every colleague Competitive and impactful remuneration
Lisa Drake Director of Purpose + Culture Elliott Wood
Regular Performance and Remuneration reviews
Group Pension Scheme that ranks 1st place for its positive climate change performance
A Guaranteed London Living Wage
Completed an annual equal pay review audit
100% of staff completed annual reviews and discussed performance, progression and remuneration. This supported 16 promotions into more senior positions and a 100% pass rate for gaining professional chartership qualifications. We held 128 knowledge-sharing events and launched training pathways for every job level across the business. To foster a coaching culture, we launched a purposeful leadership training programme. We ran an all-staff event and used a psychometric tool to celebrate and understand the diversity of strengths across our teams. • L istening to all staff members, we have reduced working hours and introduced more flexible ways of working to support a healthier work-life balance. • 2 4% of our engineering team identify as female compared to the UK engineering industry average of 15.7%. Improving the balance Career development
Every voice matters • H ealth and wellbeing packages include a fitness allowance, cash medical plan and private medical cover. We also awarded quarterly ME days given to all team members for focus on health, wellbeing and or voluntary work. • E veryone who contributed to our previous financial year received a bonus in recognition of their contribution to our business success. S taff shared ideas on improving our governance and culture at the annual all-staff event. We explored improving the balance on people, nature and business performance by measuring our impact. W e recognised exceptional performers living our company culture with a bi-annual values awards. F ollowing an independent ED&I review, our diversity programme includes: • E vents to raise awareness of gender representation in engineering, cultural and religious celebrations, neurodiversity, unconscious bias and mental health. • A team of mental health champions and mental health first aiders were trained and launched to support mental health and wellbeing. • T o ensure everyone feels comfortable in the workplace, our ‘Speak Out’ campaign provides advice where someone may have experienced or seen behaviours that doesn't align with our values, commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Our impact
he Structural Carbon Tool
Advocacy + community
• Tower Hamlet Town Hall Adaptive reuse of the Royal London Hospital into a civic centre
Bringing the built environment community together
• Grainhouse Adaptive reuse transforming five heritage buildings into a high-end, six-storey workplace.
• The Building Society A workplace that inspires, educates and takes action. Focused on the built environment community it also offers a curated events programme.
• ETHICS 1.0 A Manifesto that outlines what we think about the prevalent issues across Education, Technology, Healthcare, Infrastructure, Culture and Sustainability.
Sharing knowledge to accelerate lower carbon solutions and a more circular economy
Driving Reuse and Adaptation
“A key barrier to adapting and reusing
The Structural Carbon Tool
Full Circle to Reuse Guide
Sustainability Services
buildings is the lack of historical archives”
ETHICS
• The Building Archives The Building Archives is a resource which details thousands of historic buildings across the UK. Its drawings allow us to understand how buildings of old were shaped — so that we can adapt and reuse them in new ways.
Workshops
Ben Holmes Associate Director Elliott Wood
Circular Economy and Reuse: Guidance for Designers
Elliott Wood Academy on Circular Economy
ETHICS Workshops
Giving back
To provide an alternative and accessible route into a career in the built environment, we took part in the Build the Way trainee programme for young Londoners We provided one volunteering day to everyone in the business to support community events
24 charities From mental health issues to local homelessness, we supported 24 charities through donations and volunteering.
We do not yet know how to properly measure or calculate the full impact of our actions. But only a few years ago, the same was true for carbon. We must urgently begin to measure and improve the operational and embodied biodiversity impact of the built environment.
• Young City Builders • People’s Pavilion We took part in The People’s Pavilion by offering young Londoners a chance to work in partnership with us. • Architecture in Schools We supported Architecture in Schools and facilitated STEM programmes within schools.
“ Nearly one in six UK species are threatened with extinction, and regenerative design is still in its infancy”
Gary Elliott Chief Executive Elliott Wood
•
Nature calls
Our 2022-23 results
of the team walk or cycle to work 32%*
64%* use public transport as their main mode of transport to access the office
Addressing our impact on nature and human health matters. That’s why we are taking action to improve our carbon performance and material use.
OFFICE
Through the UN Race to Zero’s SME Climate Hub, we have committed to reducing our emissions to 50% by 2030 50%
Through the Science-based Targets Initiative (SBTi), we are working towards absolute carbon reductions and offsetting a minimal amount • Our Net Zero Near-term target is to reduce absolute emissions with a 50% reduction by 2025 for Scope 1, 2 and 3 from baseline year 2018 • Our Net Zero Long-term target is to reduce absolute emissions with a 90% reduction by 2040 for Scope 1, 2 and 3 from baseline year 2018 and to offset the remaining 10% of emissions 16.44t We are carbon offsetting with the Woodland Fund, offsetting an additional 16.44 tonnes to be climate-positive
*This exceeds the Major of London’s 2030 target for 80% of trips in London (90% in Central London) to be sustainable modes
PowerBI
-50%
We collated the embodied carbon data from 2021 and 2022 projects and launched a new PowerBI report, allowing us all to see the carbon impact of our projects
We source all office utilities from renewable sources and send zero waste to landfills
We have updated our supplier database to better track delivery distances and are collecting supplier data through questionnaires. This supports our goal of using local suppliers where possible
-90%
Our clients
• Building our capabilities Our Chief Executive, Gary Elliott, and Associate, Ian Poole, attended the Regenerative Design lab, a six-month programme exploring the principles of regenerative design and putting them into practice. As part of the first cohort to gain Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) registration, we supported two members of our Sustainability team in achieving this IStructE accreditation — Penny Gowler, Director and Head of Sustainability and Ian Poole, Associate.
We became Carbon Neutral and Carbon Footprint Certified in 2021
C
To ensure we meet customer and other stakeholder needs within statutory and regulatory requirements
ISO 9001
We are measuring our impact on travel emissions with our Travel Carbon Tracker
Carried out client feedback to improve our services
Retained our ISO 9001 standards
Continued to have a robust ICT infrastructure and security measures in place
For people
For nature
05
100% Of managers have formal social and environmental goals
90% Employee satisfaction rate
Launch company Carbon Footprint Report to monitor our Scope 1, 2 and 3 Emissions
50% Net Zero Near Term Target
Improving the way we track travel for business commitments and commuting
100% Of job descriptions have clear social and environmental goals
90% Zero waste to landfill and 90% recycling rates
90% Net Zero Long Term Target
100% Of employees on London Living Wage
10%
20%
90% Completion of anti- corruption and bribery training
Improve tracking of Client Environmental Impact on our Projects
Employee Turnover less than 10% on a rolling month
Reduction on waste year on year until reduced to the absolute minimum
Review pension Investments to ensure they are socially responsible
For clients
Community and advocacy
60%
Suppliers locally sourced within our neighbourhood Our plans
Following a successful internal assessment, we will conduct a materiality assessment for external stakeholders based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals
100%
Supplier's complete supplier assessments
Sustainable service delivery
100% pass rate of quarterly copyright and GDPR audits
100%
+1 0% 4
Increase in staff volunteering days
Community initiatives per year
Comprehensive project delivery and assessment frame- works
Outstanding client satisfaction
Identifying opportu- nities for increasing R&D investment
Research and Development
To work towards our B Corp recertification in 2025, we have the following goals for the next 12 months
We are always open to any thoughts or suggestions that might develop our B Corp Certification and Purpose. Equally, if you’d like to join Elliott Wood, The Building Society or contribute to The Building Archives do please get in touch. • Elliott Wood The Society Building 55 Whitfield Street London W1T 4AH info@elliottwood.co.uk
+44(0)20-7499-5888 • elliottwood.co.uk
• thesocietybuilding.co.uk • thebuildingarchives.co.uk
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