Sellafield infrastructure partnership becomes first in nuclear to gain national inclusion accolade
The partnership responsible for delivering major projects at Sellafield has been formally accredited for its efforts on diversity and inclusion.
The Programme and Project Partners and Sellafield Ltd celebrating team achievements last year at an awards event.
The National Centre for Diversity has recognised the Programme and Project Partners at Sellafield as bringing together the best of each partner organisation to promote equality, diversity and inclusion across its team.
The Programme and Project Partners, managing director, Duncan Elliott, said:
This recognition means the world to everyone in the partnership, and to those supporting us, who are personally invested in making The Programme and Project Partners a great place to be, for everyone.
As a programme made up of people from multiple organisations with a huge range of backgrounds, specialisms and experiences – we need every single person to feel like they can bring their whole self to work, and perform at their best, knowing that they are valued, respected and part of something really exciting.
This is a step towards that, but it is only the first step, and we’ll keep putting in the same energy and effort to improve for the next 16 years and beyond.
The accreditation is recognised as the national equality standard providing organisations with a bespoke approach to embedding equality, diversity, inclusion and fairness in all that it does.
The Programme and Project Partnership has a team of around 1,500 people drawn from the 5 partner organisations - Sellafield Ltd, KBR, Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, Jacobs and Altrad Babcock - and is 4 years into a 20-year contract term. The team is set to increase to 1,900 people over the next year.
The partnership has been working with the National Centre for Diversity for a year to review its policies, behaviours, and work practices to become a fully inclusive environment for people who work there.
Since starting this journey, they have engaged team members working across the programme, listened and acted on feedback, introduced training, behavioural coaching and adapted ways of working.
Solat Chaudhry, chief executive of the National Centre for Diversity, said:
Being the first programme of its kind to achieve the Investors in Diversity Award should send a positive message to all of the partnerships stakeholders, internal and external, and everyone who’s played a part in getting to this point should be congratulated for their input and success of the partnership.
The team has demonstrated its commitment to improving levels of fairness, respect, equity, diversity, inclusion and engagement.
What has been most impressive is the speed and quality of work undertaken over a short period of time, which is being noticed by employees across the partnership.
Client head of culture, engagement and sustainability, Laura Doughty, said:
Pursuing this accreditation was a bold step for The Programme and Project Partners and Sellafield Ltd and I’m extremely proud we have become the first programme team to achieve this award.
A genuinely collaborative culture must be founded on inclusive behaviours. With the backing of Sellafield Ltd, together we are creating an environment where all team members can thrive and one which will help us to attract the diverse talent we need to deliver our long-term pipeline of major infrastructure projects.
The requirement to build a collaborative and inclusive culture does not stop at the partners.
They have now welcomed 8 long term delivery partners from across the UK, who will be held to the same expectations.
The Programme and Project Partners is proud to be the first in the nuclear sector to receive the diversity award and hopes to set a precedent for many others to follow.
Find out more about the National Centre for Diversity and the Investors in Diversity Award at National Centre for Diversity.
About the Programme and Project Partners
The partnership is made up of lot partners:
- KBR (integration partner)
- Jacobs (design and engineering partner)
- Morgan Sindall Infrastructure (civils construction management partner)
- Altrad Babcock Ltd (process construction management partner)
Sellafield Ltd is the 5th partner.
The Programme and Project Partners model was mobilised in 2019 with the purpose of transforming major project delivery at the Sellafield nuclear site.
The partnership brings together the best of KBR, Jacobs, Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, Altrad Babcock and Sellafield Ltd to deliver a 20-year pipeline of major infrastructure projects to support the decommissioning of Sellafield and to create a clean and safe environment for future generations.
As part of its pioneering approach to project delivery and local impact, Programme and Project Partners is supporting relationships between those bidding to become key delivery partners and high performing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) willing to invest in West Cumbria.
These SMEs plan to create additional jobs, recruit apprentices and invest to expand/create new facilities in the West Cumbria as a result of the work they do with their respective key delivery partners.