The mental health and wellbeing of our employees is vital to us as a company, we want our staff to feel safe and happy in a comfortable working environment.

We take part in campaigns such as Mind’s Time to Talk Day and Mental Health Awareness Week, inviting guest speakers on site to encourage our employees to talk about mental health.

We provide training for members of staff to become Mental Health First Aiders so they can support their peers.

As well as this we engage in wellbeing initiatives including healthy eating days to promote the importance of having a healthy lifestyle.

Gardner’s Den - where employers can suggest business ideas or inventions to the board.

Charity Fundraising – this year we’re taking on the Three Peaks Challenge to raise money for SARAID (Search and Rescue Assistance in Disasters). This involves climbing the three highest UK mountains in just 24 hours. This is open to staff across all of our sites globally. Over the festive period we also raised money for Glenroyd House, a food bank in the North East of England.

Our Employee Engagement Survey gives our staff the chance to speak anonymously about their working life, put forward suggestions or express any concerns.

We also offer drop-in sessions – our HR team make time for staff to talk to them about HR and Payroll related matters.

At Gardner we believe that our best investment is our people and we are committed to helping each individual to achieve their personal best.

It is this philosophy that leads us to run a successful apprenticeship and Kickstart programme. Supporting individuals from the very start of their career, through to degree level in some cases, many apprentices have continued both their studies and careers with us, moving into leadership roles.

We have recently become involved in the Government's Kickstart scheme, an initiative to support young people aged 16-24 on universal credit. During a six month placement they gain vital experience to help ‘kickstart’ their careers.

We are also proud to have been awarded Silver in the Ministry of Defence Employer Recognition Scheme. The scheme recognises and rewards UK employers for their support to defence personnel. We are also promoting this through our sponsorship of Armed Forces Day 2022.