This year’s Good Employer Guide highlights the employers that are setting new benchmarks for the built environment, showing how thoughtful policies, inclusive cultures and long‑term investment in people are helping to attract and retain the talent the sector needs
We are delighted to launch this year’s Building Good Employer Guide, celebrating a growing community of firms that are raising the bar on what it means to support and invest in their people.
For 2026, 52 companies from across the built environment – spanning consultants, architects, contractors, manufacturers and clients – have shared detailed data about their workforce, policies and performance. As in last year’s edition, entrants were asked not only to outline the benefits they offer, but also to demonstrate how they are embedding good practice into everyday working life and measuring its impact.
The findings offer a revealing snapshot of a sector under pressure to attract and retain talent. Savvy employers know that strengthening workplace culture is not optional – it is essential. Almost all firms in the guide now offer hybrid working, alongside enhanced maternity and paternity provision and, increasingly, access to sabbaticals and career breaks.
Encouragingly, representation is improving in some areas. On average, women make up 35% of staff across participating firms, while employees from ethnic-minority backgrounds account for 18% of the workforce – proportionate to the wider UK population and significantly higher than the industry average.
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>>Click here to download a digital edition version of the guide
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At the same time, this year’s data highlights where further progress is needed. Disability inclusion remains a particular challenge: although 24% of the UK’s working-age population have a disability, only a minority of companies in the guide employ more than 10% disabled staff. This year we also asked firms, for the first time, about the representation of neurodivergent employees – yet fewer than a third currently collect this data.
There are, however, strong signs of commitment to developing future talent. All participating firms offer structured training and CPD, with average annual training hours ranging widely, and many running formal graduate and apprenticeship programmes. Some employ hundreds of apprentices and graduates across the UK, while others have introduced clear progression pathways, professional accreditation support and mentoring schemes to widen access and retain early-career recruits.
Wellbeing strategies are now firmly embedded, with almost every firm formalising its approach and many offering private healthcare, mental health first-aiders, financial guidance and structured feedback mechanisms. Meanwhile, 90% hold ISO, B Corp or equivalent certification, reflecting a commitment to robust governance and continuous improvement.
This guide showcases employers that understand investing in people is fundamental to building resilient, future-ready businesses.
As ever, our aim is to focus on progress: to share practical examples, highlight emerging trends and encourage honest reflection. We hope the 2026 guide inspires even more organisations to learn from one another and to play their part in shaping a built environment sector known not only for the places it creates, but also for the way it treats its people.
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