6th December 2021

Response to the Government's flexible working consultation

We have submitted our response to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)'s flexible working consultation to support the Government in making flexible working accessible to all.

Further to the Government’s consultation on flexible working, which closed last week, Paul Hamer, Sir Robert McAlpine’s Chief Executive Officer, said:

“At Sir Robert McAlpine, we strongly believe that, at the core of every successful business is a motivated and happy workforce, and this means encouraging a working environment that embraces a flexible working culture to shake off the constraints of traditional and rigid working arrangements. As a leading UK construction and civil engineering company, we are passionate about tackling the mental health crisis in the construction industry and are keen to fully embrace initiatives which can positively help alleviate depression and anxiety. We are therefore proud to have submitted our response to the Government’s consultation on making flexible working the default. 

“Not only does flexible working support the wellbeing of a workforce, our recently commissioned report in partnership with Pragmatix Advisory and Mother Pukka found that there is a strong economic case for increased flex. The value of flexible working to the UK economy is already £37 billion, but our report found that if current levels of flexible working were increased by 50%, the economic benefit would be £55 billion, alongside creating an additional 51,200 jobs. That is why we are calling on government and industry to reform the business reasons criteria and ensure that flexible working is open to employees from their first day of employment. We look forward to seeing the government's response in due course and further details of legislation next year.”

News and comment

  2. Anna Whitehouse, Founder of Flex Appeal, and Paul Hamer, CEO of SRM

    Flexonomics: The economic and fiscal logic of flexible working

    24 Nov 2021

    Download “Flexonomics: The economic and fiscal logic of flexible working” published by Pragmatix Advisory and commissioned by Mother Pukka and Sir Robert McAlpine, the first in-depth report to showcase the benefits of flexible working to the UK economy.

    Read more
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