THE UNITE GROUP PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024 201 Section 6: Key management and employee benefits The Group’s greatest resource is its staff and it works hard to develop and retain its people. The remuneration policies in place are aimed to help recognise the contribution that Unite Group’s people make to the performance of the Group. On the following pages you will find disclosures around wages and salaries and share option schemes which allow employees of the Group to take an equity interest in the Group. Accounting policies The Group operates a defined contribution pension scheme. Obligations for contributions to defined contribution pension plans are recognised as an expense in the income statement as incurred. 6.1 Staff numbers and costs With the exception of the Directors, who are employed by Unite Group PLC, all employees are employed by subsidiaries of the Group. The employee costs of Unite Group PLC are borne by another Group company. The average number of persons employed by the Group (including Directors) during the year (calculated on a monthly basis), analysed by category, was as follows: Number of employees 2024 2023 Managerial and administrative 617 580 Site operatives 1,291 1,241 1,908 1,821 The aggregate payroll costs of these persons were as follows: 2024 2023 £m £m Wages and salaries 79.6 72.1 Social security costs 7.9 6.8 Pension costs 3.8 3.3 Fair value of share-based payments 2.4 3.4 93.7 85.6 The wages and salaries costs include redundancy costs of £0.5 million (2023: £0.2 million) and costs due to senior leadership changes of £nil million (2023: £2.9 million). The total number of persons employed by the Group (including Directors) and Company as at 31 December 2024 was 625 managerial and administrative and 1,281 site operatives. 6.2 Key management personnel The remuneration of the Directors, including Non-Executive Directors, who are the key management personnel of the Group and Company, is set out below in aggregate for each of the applicable categories specified in IAS 24 Related Party Disclosures. Further information about the remuneration of individual Directors is provided in the audited part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report on page 128 which covers the requirements of schedule 5 of the relevant legislation. 2024 2023 £m £m Short-term employee benefits 2.7 2.4 Post employment benefits 0.1 0.1 Share-based payment benefits 0.5 1.2 3.3 3.7