As one of the UK’s leading independent home builders and timber systems manufacturers, Stewart Milne Group has a long-established reputation for quality, excellence in customer care and innovation.

Originally established in 1975 with just 6 employees, today the Group employs over 1,000 people across the UK, with locations in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow as well as south of the border in Manchester and Oxford.

From the beginning, Stewart Milne Group has been passionate about being a desirable employer including offering attractive perks and benefits such as nine-day fortnights, lifestyle discounts and private medical insurance.

The homebuilder already adheres to many of the commitments found in the Business Pledge such as no zero-hour contracts and paying the living wage and is thrilled to officially make its commitment.

In addition, Stewart Milne Group is passionate about reducing the gender pay gap and has worked hard to tackle this year-on-year. The most recent report on the Gender Pay Gap highlighted a 4.8% improvement, from 18.1% to 13.3%. This is significantly lower than the construction sectors average of 23.6%. During the visit to celebrate this milestone, the Minster for Business, Fair Work and Skills recognised Stewart Milne Group for its efforts in reducing the Gender Pay Gap, particularly welcome in the Construction sector.

Proud of these statistics, the Group looks to empower all employees to reach their full potential and has introduced several training programmes to attract more people to a career within the construction industry, regardless of their gender.

The introduction of the Fast Track Modern Apprenticeship and the Graduate Apprenticeship in Construction and the Built Environment programme provide alternative routes into senior roles at Stewart Milne Group, whilst the in-house Managing People for Growth (MPFG) training programme helps upskill participants throughout their career. The Fast Track course has helped encourage colleagues into the industry who don’t have a background in Construction but see the Group as a great place to work, members of the first cohort are now in management positions within the business.

Chief Executive Officer, Stuart MacGregor said: “Stewart Milne Group has long prided itself in being an attractive employer and a real competitor within the construction industry for workers benefits. Over the years our quality customer service and training programmes have been celebrated in industry awards and accreditations, but we wanted to cement what we were doing for our employees and industry partners by signing the Business Pledge.

“The Scottish Business Pledge sits perfectly with the Stewart Milne ethos and values. Our commitment to attracting people into the industry and providing the best training, mentoring and learning experience, can only be strengthened by signing up to the Business Pledge and we look forward to introducing more elements and ultimately becoming the leading example of best practise for the UK construction industry.”