Pictured: (l-r) Keynote speaker at the ceremony, Dawn Gibbins MBE, Secret Millionnaire and Philanthropreneur congratulates Huw Evans, Willmott Dixon Partnerships' Head of Customer Service & Training

Social housing repairs and maintenance company Willmott Dixon Partnerships achieved national recognition for its commitment to diversity and equality among its Birmingham workforce.

Willmott Dixon Group's repairs specialist won the 'Excellence in performance by a large company' award at the annual Construction Diversity Expo's Construction Diversity Awards in London.

Launched this year, the Construction Diversity Awards highlight excellence in equality, diversity and inclusion at work by construction related companies in the UK.

Judges were impressed by Willmott Dixon Partnerships' dedication to providing an inclusive working environment through its range of initiatives that support and encourage equal opportunities and a diverse workforce.

These include providing equality and diversity training for all new employees, holding an annual 'equality and diversity' month, and seeking to remove barriers to employment through the company's unique 'Opening Doors' scheme.

Comprising the Work Experience, Building Maintenance Skills and Apprentice programmes, 'Opening Doors' gives work experience to under-represented groups into the construction and maintenance industries, including vulnerable people who are unemployed or affected by redundancy and business closures.

Willmott Dixon Partnerships has 30 CITB trained Construction Ambassadors working within the business, 26 of whom are female. They visit schools and colleges to deliver positive messages about careers within the construction industry, with an aim of counteracting negative perceptions and promoting the possibility of trade apprenticeships as an alternative to 'traditional' female roles.

Willmott Dixon Partnerships managing director, Mick Williamson said: "Partnerships aims to attract, develop and promote the most committed people with the right behaviour in order to provide a high quality service throughout the life of our contracts. We recognise that attracting a culturally diverse workforce is key to achieving this. It is our belief that a positive change should be led from above, and a third of our board of directors are female compared to an average of one in eight among the FTSE Top 100 companies. Our board members actively listen to what our employees say and encourage a culture of open communication of ideas, so that everyone feels engaged with the business and our ethics and culture.

"We are extremely honoured to have won this award, especially when competing against such a high standard of entries from other large national organisations. It demonstrates our continued commitment to equality and diversity in all of our dealings with clients, their customers and partner organisations. We feel particularly proud of our 'Opening Doors' scheme, which provides young people, regardless of their background and academic qualifications, the opportunity to explore careers within the construction industry."

The Construction Diversity Expo is organised by Women and Manual Trades, promoting employment and training opportunities in construction to under-represented groups, to improve employment diversity.

Willmott Dixon Partnerships is currently working with Birmingham City Council to repair and maintain 60,000 properties in the city. It's two contracts for the north and south of the city includes the areas of Edgbaston, Hall Green, Northfield, Selly Oak, Ladywood, Erdington, Perry Bar and Sutton Coldfield. It aims to reduce the cost of this service by £47m over the five year terms of the two contracts.

Willmott Dixon Group is one of the UK's second largest privately-owned capital works, regeneration and support services companies.

With over 158 years of experience, the company provides services within the built environment to Government, registered social landlords, local authorities and private sector clients throughout the UK.

Willmott Dixon Partnerships works within the Group to deliver support services to over 120,000 homes, 1,200 public buildings and 50 commercial properties across the UK.