Bastows is a leading refurbishment contractor working for prestigious clients to restore the value in London’s most beautiful homes. 

We work with strong core values to be Brave, Harmonious and True, and with the purpose of Making London Beautiful – making a positive impact not just through our work and ability every interaction with clients, residents, colleagues and the communities we work in. 

We know that every one of our team is an Ambassador for Bastows and has the power to affect our reputation. Therefore, it’s important to show care and respect for them, their wellbeing and their engagement with our purpose and values.  

The collaborative approach in our team, a shared commitment to development and learning, and their belief and involvement in our vision have been key to our ability to take on larger, higher-value projects in recent years. 

Nostalgia: 11 years with Investors in People 

We first looked into Investors in People in 2009 and completed the self-assessment tool to see how we measured up against the Standard. 

We then started to discuss with our team the benefits of undergoing assessment and the conversations we might have about development, collaboration, opportunity, and engagement. The team were overwhelmingly supportive, and so in 2010, we started our IIP journey. 

We have embedded IIP into our conversations with all our people and every new team member who joins us. By reaching the Standard and then developing to Silver in 2013, we recognised, measured, and celebrated the impacts of being accredited.  

Attaining Silver was a fantastic day for us; SMEs in construction rarely take the opportunities to celebrate their culture, and the response we got to our news from clients and colleagues was wonderful. It was great to see so many appreciate the growth we’d achieved and how we’d pushed on to improve and develop in three years of accreditation. 

It was also a great feeling to be asked about it in a client presentation for the first time and be the only contractor who had not only reached the Standard but were able to show a real understanding of its significance – it gave us an edge and made our presentation memorable. 

Appreciation: seeing the value in an Investors in People practitioner 

IIP has prompted us to reflect on where we can improve, expanding our vision for where we can take the business and the projects we can undertake.  

The process is thorough but friendly and allows everyone to speak in confidence and with honesty about their role in the business, leadership and sense of fulfilment.  

Our original assessor Jim Illingworth was a major source of guidance and gave us clear feedback; this has been carried on since his retirement by Anna Frith, who has been a rock for our team and takes a genuine interest in what we do and our people.  

I have led our involvement in IIP since the beginning, but we attain and retain the Standard – and can only hope to progress to Gold with the full involvement of our team. 

Relevancy: Investors in People is still a mark of positive workplace culture 

Bastows stays committed to IIP as its universally recognised as a mark of great business. It’s been brought up many times in interviews with candidates keen to know more about how we work together, and we promote it as a benefit of working with Bastows. 

It promotes positive conversations and awareness of taking our team with us by setting out our business plans, inviting their input and ideas, and opening doors for everyone to play a meaningful part in the business and its future. 

IIP is a smart identifier of positive workplace culture and encapsulates everything we strive for.  

Ambition: promoting their Investors in People movement 

As we have defined and developed our vision in recent times, we have used a variety of tools to assess the potential and engagement of everyone in our business – IIP has been invaluable here and allowed us to have a more wide-reaching conversation with people about their own goals, how we support them and help them succeed. 

We love to promote our IIP accreditation and would love more access to engaging marketing materials that help us get the message out – not just about our story but the process and benefits of assessment and accreditation. 

We’d love to know we were part of a movement to encourage other businesses to look into the Standard and feel the benefits!