Member Article

Wates Living space boosts Midlands' Social Enterprise growth

Birmingham-based Argonaut Community Enterprise is expanding its presence in the Midlands following a series of contract wins with Wates Living Space.

Wates has appointed the social enterprise, which employs deaf and disabled people, to provide cleaning services at a number of its site offices in Coventry. Argonaut Community Enterprise is also carrying out work to deep-clean Wates’ new build housing projects ahead of them being handed over to its affordable housing provider clients.

Argonaut Community Enterprise was founded in 2010 to provide deaf and disabled people with work experience and employment opportunities. Its workers, some of which are affected by disabilities such as Cerebral Palsy, arthritis or vision difficulties, provide services for both commercial and domestic customers including cleaning, gardening, painting and decorating and PAT testing.

In addition to employing Argonaut Community Enterprise on a number of projects, Wates Living Space has also secured a £10,000 grant from Wates Giving, an independent charitable programme run by the Wates Family Enterprise Trust. This funding has enabled Argonaut to spend time looking after people who join them for work experience placements. A senior member of Wates’ staff also has a place on the enterprise’s board under an advisory capacity.

The appointment of Argonaut Community Enterprise forms part of Wates’ nationwide efforts to engage social enterprises on its projects and to support their continuing role in local economic growth and regeneration. This is a commitment that has seen the company trade £5.1m with the social enterprise sector to date, with an aspiration to increase this to £20m by 2020.

Stewart Reid, Business Director for Wates Living Space, commented: “We go to great lengths to support the communities where we build and have a history of successfully working with social enterprises. Half of all Wates sites in 2014 employed at least one social enterprise, helping us to far surpass our target to trade £5m with the sector by 2015, a fantastic achievement by all involved.

“Argonaut Community Enterprise is a fantastic example of a social purpose business that is working hard to create jobs for those who might otherwise struggle to gain employment. We are pleased to have them working on some of our exciting projects in the Midlands and hope that with our support they are able to further grow and continue their excellent work.”

Gill Winstanley, Argonaut’s Managing Director, added: “We are delighted to be working so closely with Wates and be opening up opportunities for employment for people who would otherwise remain on unemployment benefits, particularly when they want to work. The support we receive from Wates is also enabling us to build sustainable employment and underpin this with the policies and practices that are needed.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Wates .