An entrepreneur and University College Birmingham graduate brought together a host of strategic partners for a conference aiming to promote sustainable business growth, social responsibility, and social impact practices in the construction industry.

Rosie Ginday MBE, a graduate of the College of Food, founded social enterprise Miss Macaroon with only £500 and the use of kitchen space at the University, but her business has blossomed, supplying sweet treats to restaurants and high-end retailers such as Selfridge's, while using catering and training to provide job opportunities for young people with complex needs.

Alongside her own company, Rosie developed the Fairer Futures programme, a collaboration with Your Co-op, and has already helped hundreds of young people in the Midlands, with many finding employment for the first time. 

Keen to develop the model further, she expanded her interest and has created the Building a Brighter Future initiative with a view to helping more young people with disabilities, mental health issues, and homelessness find work in sustainable construction.

Using collaborative programmes termed 'All Rise Partnerships', the goal is to boost improve employee wellbeing, address talent gaps and encourage inclusive working practices.

The first step brought together regional policymakers with leaders in construction and social enterprise, alongside other community stakeholders, to share valuable insights on how social impact programmes might urgently address the sector’s skills shortages.

The morning began with a welcome from Neil Davies, Head of the Department of Engineering, who spoke of the University's enduring commitment to sustainability in its construction and engineering programmes, and filling the regional skills gap: "In order for us to develop new and innovative practices it's important for us to foster relationships with sector experts," he said.

"Events such as Building a Brighter future help the University to showcase what it can offer to industry and to students."

Afterwards, guests were taken by engineering technician Lisa Collins on a guided tour of the new Centre for Sustainable Construction at the recently renovated James Cond building, a converted former Art Deco printworks updated to provide modern and energy-efficient features.

At the lunch that followed, Leo Pollak, Head of Policy for Housing and Regeneration at the West Midlands Combined Authority opened the main event by sharing the mayor's office's vision for increased social housing production and the creation of sustainable jobs for young people. He told guests: "There are more than 12 thousand construction companies in the West Midlands, and we have a shortfall of more than 36 thousand workers.

"You have the opportunity to make a difference to the next generation by helping create a pipeline for inclusive job opportunities."

Following on from this, Rosie talked attendees through the co-creation of social impact programmes with large corporates with the goal of supporting young people with complex needs to build skills sets and access employment. She discussed how the work the organisation had undertaken with the Co-op had led to their winning a Community Engagement Award at the People in Retail Awards 2024.

Over the course of the lunch - which was produced and served by students from the College of Food - the chairs of each table led other participants in discussion across areas including regional plans, opportunities and challenges, and best practice in social impact work across sites and within supply chains. Discussion focused on innovative alternative funding solutions for social housing, alongside fundraising activities to drive long-term positive impacts across the West Midlands.