One of the few PLC companies in the UK that has a dedicated employee director, Mears has went further with an additional one focused exclusively on helping and supporting disabled employees within the group.

There are 14.1 million disabled people in the UK and more than 4.4 million disabled people are in work. It’s never been more important to treat everyone equally and to give every individual the opportunity to access a job to earn a living on their own.

Jay said: “I have extensive experience working with the vulnerable and disabled and believe I can bring a lot of understanding to the new role to create an environment at Mears where every individual truly matters.

“I want to share best practices across the group and work to support the voices that may not have been heard. By doing this I am confident we can create a genuine balance within the workplace.”

Mears said it is committed to making positive changes in the industry and Jay will lead the steps supporting activities that promote the employee experience via their social values and diversity.

Executive director Alan Long welcomed Jay’s appointment: “We wanted to create a role specific to the needs of disabled colleagues following our review of how we support our workforce. We want to be a company where individuals can get on whatever their background, and for disabled colleagues I know having Jay keeping up the momentum on this at the board will I hope lead to a fuller working experience.

“Mears is still one of a very small number of PLCs who have one employee director, let alone two, so I hope this is seen by all of our colleagues and underlines the importance we place on hearing from you at the very top of our organisation.”