HAYS AND BOB PARTNERSHIP RECOGNISED AT PRESTIGIOUS MENTAL HEALTH AWARDS

A “wonderful initiative” between construction recruitment specialist Hays and Band of Builders (BoB) received a Highly Commended in a fiercely contested category at the prestigious InsideOut mental health and wellbeing awards in London.

Nine companies were in the frame for the Employer Initiative of the Year Award – including global brands Mars UK, Santander, Sky Media and Deutsche Bank. This made the announcement of the only Highly Commended even more of an achievement for the partnership between Hays and BoB, which started last autumn and is being rolled out right across the UK.

With the full support of the BoB team, Hays has been taking the lead on visiting construction sites up and down the country in a bid to reach out to both bosses and operatives to discuss tackling the industry’s mental health crisis and signposting support that is readily available, free and easy to access.

One landmark event – which was timed to coincide with National Stress Awareness Day last November – was at one of the largest construction sites in the UK. The high-profile site in London – which typically has anywhere between 1,500 and 2,000 operatives working on site at any one time – gave permission for the event to take place and invited teams from Hays and BoB to host sessions throughout the day.

Judges of the awards – which celebrate “mental health and those who champion it” as part of an annual summit on wellbeing – praised the groundbreaking initiative to tackle the mental health crisis in the UK construction industry.

They said: “What a wonderful initiative to support a sector in need. What stood out for me was how they identified a way to promote the service to temporary workers without access to computers – something that is very difficult to do.”

Taking to LinkedIn straight after the announcement, BoB CEO Gavin Crane posted: “Thrilled to be Highly Commended at the InsideOut Awards for our employer initiative with Hays.

“Huge thanks to Alan Hardy, Phil Jackson, Tony Bird, Gaëlle Blake and the entire Hays team for believing in us and sharing our work across the UK, helping us to reach thousands of construction workers. Together, we are making a difference! Congratulations to the winner and all shortlisted companies. Proud to be in such great company!”