Atkins has appointed Penny Anderson as associate director of social value. In her new role, Anderson will help to capture and highlight social value success stories from across Atkins’ markets and clients, helping to articulate where Atkins’ social value principles have been applied on projects and sharing best practice and lessons learned within Atkins and the wider industry.

Anderson joins Atkins from BAM Construction where she led BAM’s social value strategy in the Netherlands and the UK and was involved in delivering social value outcomes for many of BAM’s clients. Prior to joining BAM, she worked in various learning and development roles where she developed a deep appreciation of the importance of skills, experience and knowledge to people both in and out of the workforce, the importance of voluntary organisations and the role of equality, diversity and inclusion in driving industries and the economy forward. 

Dr Vicky Hutchinson, practice director at Atkins, said: “Social value is hugely important to Atkins – we have always been driven to make the lived environment better for everyone. Penny’s appointment will help us bring together the good work of our teams across the UK and Europe, better measure and benchmark our performance, increase social value and celebrate and share those insights with our clients, partners and industry.”

On her appointment, Anderson said: “Social value is becoming more prominent in the construction industry, but there are still many misconceptions about what it means in practice. My aim is to demystify social value and simplify the principles around it so that everyone at Atkins, as well as our clients and partners, can connect with it and see the part they can play in achieving it.”  

Anderson’s appointment is part of Atkins’ continued strategic investment in social value and commitment to driving social value and sustainability on all of its projects.

Don't miss the Infrastructure Intelligence Social Value and Construction conference on Friday 26 March 2021.