THE UNITE GROUP PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024 83 BOARD LEADERSHIP AND PURPOSE The Board is responsible for establishing the Company’s purpose, strategy and values, promoting its culture, overseeing its conduct and affairs, for promoting the long-term sustainable success and generating value for shareholders and contributing to wider society. OUR PURPOSE – HOME FOR SUCCESS The Board has defined our common purpose. Our purpose also describes our shared commitment and motivation and contribution to the delivery of our strategic objectives, informing the development of our business model and strategy, operating practices, approach to risk and how we engage with our stakeholders. The Board oversees our service proposition and how we provide a Great Place to Live, where students belong and have access to support. Our operating model provides 24/7 round-the-clock support, 365 days a year across all our properties. Our student assistance programme offers 24/7 access to our Student Wellbeing Helpline, a counsellor- led triage service providing in-the-moment support. Our purpose informed the Board’s commitment for the Group to remain a Real Living Wage employer during 2024, having been the first in our sector. The Board also supported the decision to commission the Social Market Foundation to deliver a report into the barriers facing care-experienced and estranged students with entry into and success in Higher Education. This further emphasises our commitment to our values and undertaking to make a positive impact for students and young people. Home for Success is also about ensuring we are the right partner for our university partners. As a trusted member of the Higher Education community, we support our university partners to build a brighter future for students everywhere. Our nomination agreements with universities cover over half of our beds for the 2024/25 academic year and it is through our long- standing relationships that we have been able to secure multi- year agreements and support additional demand. We regularly engage with our university partners to understand their long- term aspirations, accommodation requirements and evolving expectations around student welfare. This means our offer is built around the priorities of students and universities alike. By placing people at the heart of our business, the Board’s focus on Home for Success is also about ensuring a Great Place to Work. This means an environment where our employees can grow, develop, succeed and belong. The Board is driven by our commitment to develop diverse and inclusive teams, filled with support, positive energy and new ideas. Our dynamic culture offers variety, growth and a range of career pathways and opportunities available to all. We remain focused on being an employer of choice. The Board has ultimate responsibility to shareholders for all the Group’s activities as well as a broader responsibility to consider the views of other key stakeholders including our customers, universities, employees and the communities we operate in, as well as considering environmental and social issues when making decisions. OUR VALUES, PEOPLE AND CULTURE During 2024, the Board had oversight of the development of our refreshed values: Challenge the Ordinary, Lead with Heart, Unite as One and Stay on Point. These values guide us in delivering our Home for Success purpose. Our values continue to shape our culture, our ambitions, the things we believe in and how we act. They connect us and drive our behaviours to create a positive impact and move with clear intent. This goes beyond regulatory compliance and relates to all aspects of the business including the impact on our people and communities. Through our Culture Matters employee forum, our employees’ voice remains front and centre ensuring dialogue between the Board and the wider business. The relationships built within the forum have allowed for meaningful and open conversations as well as direct actions taken to contribute to our Home for Success purpose. Ilaria del Beato served as our Designated Non-Executive Director for Workforce Engagement during 2024 with Angela Jain taking over with effect from 1 January 2025. During 2024, Ilaria attended forum meetings where she demonstrated the commitment of the Board through supportive and informative dialogue. In addition, the Culture Matters forum welcomed attendance from Nicky Dulieu, Chair of the Remuneration Committee who delivered a session on Executive remuneration. Dame Shirley Pearce, Chair of the Sustainability Committee also attended, highlighting the importance of sustainabilty to the Board. Feedback provided to the Board helps to inform its decision-making such as how we develop greater gender and ethnic diversity in our senior leadership and create a more diverse workforce (more details on Ilaria’s role and activities during 2024 can be found on page 86). HOW THE BOARD MONITORS OUR CULTURE Our culture defines what makes Unite Students a Great Place to Work and a great company to do business with and this forms the fundamental basis for our governance. During the year, the Board received regular updates on our first culture audit. Over 100 employees from across