Wates Property Services: Scaling Retrofit Excellence

Wates Property Services, an industry leader with approximately 10% market share in social housing maintenance following its acquisition of Liberty, is significantly expanding its retrofit work to support customers in  meeting energy efficiency standards , leveraging opportunities from the multibillion-pound Warm Homes Social Housing Fund. 

The Challenge: Accelerating Time-To-Competence

In the rapidly evolving landscape of home decarbonisation, with the government suspending businesses for poor-quality insulation work and tragic cases highlighting the critical importance of proper home retrofitting, WPS was determined to set the standard for operational excellence in the industry. 

As they prepared for the significant opportunity presented by Warm Homes Social Housing Wave 3 funding, Ben Williams, Wates Property Services’ Head of Zero Carbon Retrofit, identified three critical challenges:

• Compliance risk: TrustMark audits were resulting in suspended businesses across the industry, with potential for significant reputational damage and loss of contracts.
• Project delivery risk: Industry-wide obstacles were causing significant handover delays across retrofit projects, impacting delivery timelines and financial performance.
• Addressable market opportunity: Upcoming Wave 3 projects represented a huge business opportunity, but required teams to scale up and be better equipped to understand key standards, processes and new low-carbon technologies.

Rather than accepting the inconsistent knowledge levels which plague the industry, WPS recognised the strategic importance of building greater cross-team capability to accelerate their expansion, deliver best-in-class service, and maintain their competitive edge.

Going Beyond Traditional Learning

WPS recognised the strategic benefits of expanding upon existing approaches to retrofit training:

• On-the-job learning wasn’t scalable: Project teams had varying levels of expertise in PAS 2035 and retrofit projects, with an informal learning approach incompatible with WPS emphasis on delivery excellence and consistency.
• Formal qualifications weren't enough: Industry qualifications alone weren't demonstrating real-world competence, with a massive gap between newly certified talent and employer expectations as well as steep learning curves for new joiners. Scaling up for Wave 3 required building capacity with significantly faster time-to-competence.
• Traditional solutions lacked depth: Traditional learning approaches in the retrofit sector were outdated or unsustainable - from one-time qualifications (without ongoing learning) to basic e-learning that lacked competency frameworks and failed to measure impact or ROI.
• Quality and safety paramount: The growing focus on damp and mould issues in social housing following high-profile cases made proper training on installation, ventilation, and building physics essential. WPS recognised that inadequate knowledge in these areas posed significant risks to resident health, property condition and organisational reputation.

Why WPS Chose Greenworkx

WPS chose to partner with Greenworkx to develop a market-leading retrofit learning suite specifically designed to address their unique needs:

1. Tailored for Wates: Content developed in partnership with WPS’ in-house experts to equip team members with knowledge relevant to their specific roles, with competency-focused content (aligned with WPS' Retrofit Competency Framework), featuring company-specific case studies and curated modules covering key technical topics, processes and project stages.
2. Improved employee experience: Short, mobile-friendly modules designed for learning in the flow of work and allowing flexible access. Greenworkx leveraged multiple formats (from bitesize micro-learning and expert videos to real-life case studies and problem-based exercises) to keep learners actively engaged while reinforcing practical understanding.
3. Integrated impact measurement: Benchmarking surveys and assessments to measure knowledge uplift and ROI as well as identify individual and team knowledge gaps, enabling the design of personalised learning paths.

Measurable Results

Involving a group of 30 WPS team members who tested the learning content and delivery to gather feedback for iteration before wider deployment, the pilot delivered impressive results and demonstrated a strong positive impact across several key areas:

1. Verified knowledge improvement: Up to 25% knowledge uplift across key topics including: pre-construction programme (25%), ventilation strategy (23%) and funding (21%). This mirrored learner feedback: "Explained funding to me - information I didn't know at all, so very useful."
2. Improved learner experience: 9/10 average learner recommendation score and NPS of 52, significantly higher than industry average of -29 NPS for upskilling content. Learners described the modules as clear, easy to follow, “not boring”, and the "right amount of knowledge needed for my role". Learners also praised interactivity: "I liked the interactive aspect where I was able to be in the shoes of the team - made it easy to understand the different roles."
3. Better equipped to deliver projects compliantly: 100% of learners agreed the modules delivered practical knowledge, with relevant scenarios enhancing real-world understanding: "The scenarios are really useful and provide a practical approach to learning." Results suggested this accelerated onboarding and time-to-competence, whilst also proving valuable for experienced teams. For example, resident liaison officers reported clearer compliance understanding, including acceptable practices and evidence requirements.

Greenworkx didn't just improve overall team performance, it enabled the participating learners:

• Increased confidence: Site managers reported feeling more confident in answering technical questions from residents, improving community relations and accelerating project acceptance. 
• Improved efficiency: A document controller working across multiple projects gained sufficient expertise to join Plan Right - a critical planning meeting typically limited to technical staff. A significant process improvement, this streamlined processes and saved time for surveyors, operations managers and retrofit coordinators. 
• Stronger cross-team alignment: Learners reported a clearer understanding of different roles and responsibilities across the retrofit process, helping improve collaboration and communication: "I liked the interactive aspect where I was able to be in the shoes of the team - made it easy to understand the different roles.”

The Greenworkx solution was designed to support WPS in addressing key business priorities by:

1. Improving compliance: Giving team members clear information on requirements and acceptable practices.

2. Accelerating project completion: Equipping staff with knowledge to overcome common obstacles that delay handovers.

3. Unlocking future growth: Building capacity to deliver Wave 3 projects and capitalise on new market opportunities.

"Introducing Greenworkx's learning solution has proven instrumental as we scale up for Wave 3 and beyond. The effectiveness of Greenworkx's tailored approach was revealed during our pilot, which improved our team's knowledge by up to 25% on key topics and received overwhelmingly positive feedback. By establishing consistency in knowledge and ensuring best-in-class delivery standards, we expect to improve our delivery further and faster, reducing risk and potentially costly delays, in our quest to deliver the best value to our customers and to residents. This investment in our team's knowledge directly contributes to our business growth and reinforces our commitment to setting new standards as we continue our mission driving the decarbonisation of homes across the UK."

Ben Williams, Head of Zero Carbon Retrofit, Wates Property Services

Scaling Success

Building on this success, WPS has now rolled out Greenworkx’s solution across the organisation to prepare their teams for upcoming Wave 3 projects. This ongoing partnership represents a significant competitive advantage in an industry where quality, compliance and knowledge are increasingly critical success factors.

The pilot results demonstrate Greenworkx's effectiveness, as well as WPS' continued commitment to innovation and excellence in the retrofit sector. 

WPS is now well-positioned to deliver successfully on Wave 3 and beyond, setting new industry standards while driving both business value and positive impact.