5 minute read
Patron Focus
Patron status
adds up for accountancy firm
DUA is the latest company to become a Patron of Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce. It was a logical step for the accountancy and business consultancy, which offers expert advice to help clients navigate through the complex, ever-changing worlds of business and finance.
Carrying more than 30 years’
experience, DUA has worked with more than 1,000 clients from its base in Watford, many of whom operate in the burgeoning healthcare industry – one of
Hertfordshire’s key growth sectors.
According to CEO Rakesh Dua, having Chamber Patron status will allow the company to forge even more connections as it seeks to embark on the next stage of its growth.
He says: “Not only will this facilitate our expansion, it will help the start-up businesses that we work with to grow and develop. We strive for a culture of collaboration on the basis that together we can achieve more, and our approach is very personal.”
“We advise clients in many sectors but our main area of expertise lies in healthcare. We understand the fast-paced and extensive professional requirements of working in this important sector. Whether you’re a doctor, dentist, healthcare professional, private clinic or an NHS GP medical practice, we can help your business grow while ensuring that all of your compliance requirements are met. Our work in this field has been recognised, too; we were honoured to be named Best Healthcare Business Advisory Firm for South East England in the Private Healthcare Awards.” “It’s good to operate in Hertfordshire’s healthcare sector. There has been a lot of investment in this industry and in pharmaceuticals, with many overseas firms setting up a base here. There’s also a diverse community of innovative, indigenous small businesses, some of whom we work with already and others who we’d like to get to know. Being a Chamber Patron will allow us to build these connections.”
DUA offers an extensive range of advice and support to businesses. This includes up-to-date advice on property-related tax legislation, help for overseas firms looking to invest in the UK, and support for ambitious home-grown companies that want to scale up quickly. Rakesh says: “Your business is doing well and it’s time to take things to the next level, but have you considered how you’re going to manage each element including your finances, strategy, talent and succession planning? Sometimes it’s good to discuss these key issues with an independent voice outside of the business.”
Research from GoConstruct indicates that women make up around 14% of construction industry professionals.
However, with awareness growing of the huge opportunities construction provides for a successful and lucrative career, the organisation is encouraged that 37% of new entrants into the industry that come from higher education are women.
While these statistics are heartening, we believe our industry needs to accelerate faster towards gender parity. At Willmott Dixon, we aim to achieve a 50/50 gender split across the group by 2030. However, this won’t happen by itself. Concerted action is needed to meet this challenging, sector-leading aim.
To help us progress, in 2019, as part of our Gender Diversity strategy, we bought together a focus group comprised of our female leaders to brainstorm what they could do to support the company to improve gender diversity. Through this, we created a programme to develop gateways for women into the construction industry and once there, support the progress of high potential women into leadership positions. The rationale is clear: by empowering future female leaders, we will advance the business with an invaluable balance of behaviours, perspectives and insights.
Our drive for equality has attracted interest from across the industry sector and in 2020 we successfully applied for £54k of CITB funding to help us develop a pilot programme to create a new generation of female leaders. The 12-month programme was launched last year and delivered to 17 high-potential female leaders from Willmott Dixon and our supply chain partners. Activities incorporated a blend of classroom style learning delivered by Cambridge University’s Judge Business School, alongside an internally led development programme, including:
• Dedicated mentoring from Willmott
Dixon directors and other senior figures in the business
• Opportunities to gain insight and experiences through shadowing senior management and attending strategic meetings, including those at board level
• Opportunities to participate in task teams and project groups across different business disciplines, further enhancing cross-sector skills
• The building of a strong alumni of exceptional female leaders to mentor those entering the industry.
Alongside Cambridge Judge Business School, throughout the programme worked closely with CITB, the construction industry’s training board, sharing learning and best practice to benefit the industry for years to come. The programme was an outstanding success, with the first cohort graduating at the end of last year. By the end of the programme, our cohort felt more supported in their professional development. Further success criteria include seeing an increase in female successors, promotions, and the ratio of female leaders at senior management levels and in board positions, as well as improving the retention of high-potential women within the construction industry.
This programme will now take place annually as part of our aspiration to achieve gender neutrality across all levels of our business by 2030.
In 2021 Willmott Dixon was included in The Times’ prestigious Top 50 Employers for Women for the third consecutive time, in recognition of its focus on being a workplace that’s inclusive for all people.
We know as a business that we must continue to work hard to diversify our workforce and represent the communities in which we work, along with focussing on ensuring we create a positive working environment for all our employees. We believe a diverse workforce that contributes across all levels of our company is essential to our future.
