The housing, care and property management group retained the award in recognition of the way it encourages and develops its young employees.  

The IIYP accreditation, first awarded to Wheatley in 2015, is another way the group is proving to be an employer of choice for young people.

An assessor from Investors in People (IIP), the organisation behind the accreditation, spent three days at Wheatley in August, meeting young people and senior staff.

The assessor stated: “Wheatley is committed to creating opportunities that help young people improve their lives and reach their full potential.”

Wheatley Group, which has around 3000 staff, currently has 522 employees aged between 16 and 28, including 49 Modern Apprentices and 45 young people on its graduate programme, Ignite.

Louise Smith, Wheatley’s strategic director of group people services, said: “We always want to increase opportunities for young people and we are proud to retain our Investors in Young People accreditation. It’s a terrific achievement.

“Our young colleagues, apprentices and trainees bring fresh ideas to the group and accolades like this show they are getting the support they need to develop their own careers and to deliver the best services for our customers.”