STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE Great Place to Work Board’s governance role Link to principal risk What the Board did in 2025 and its decision-making Employee wellbeing: Board governance to ensure the health, safety, wellbeing and security of our employees is paramount. The Board monitors progress against our values. People risks: Loss of talent and capability. Keeping pace with changes required to ensure we meet our 2030 people targets. Read more p59 The Board has designated one of its Non-Executive Directors to help ensure the views and concerns of the workforce are brought to the Board and taken into account. Through our Culture Matters forum, the Board monitors employee engagement and issues which are important to our employees. During 2025, the Board supported renewed base line targets and the new belonging framework which will be rolled out in 2026. Read more about employee wellbeing and workforce engagement p86 Leadership development and succession planning/talent pipeline. Market risk Supply and demand Read more p59 The Nomination Committee focuses on Board succession as well as our broader talent pipeline and leadership development. During 2025, succession plans for the Board remained an ongoing focus for the Nomination Committee, particularly the successor to the outgoing Audit & Risk Committee Chair in 2026. Read more about succession planning/talent pipeline p100 STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE Great Place to Invest Board’s governance role Link to principal risk What the Board did in 2025 and its decision-making Property/development pipeline: Board scrutiny of city and site selection for new developments against a backdrop of increasing competition for the best sites. Governance of developments/ acquisitions to ensure they run to budget and schedule and are earnings accretive. Property/development risk Read more p58 Board oversight of: Our joint venture with Newcastle University. This joint venture will provide 2,000 beds at the University’s Castle Leazes site in Newcastle, due for completion in 2028 and 2029. Our joint venture with Manchester Metropolitan University which will see the delivery of 2,302 beds at the University’s Cambridge Halls site which is due for completion in time for the 2029/30 academic year. Delivery of two flagship properties with over 1,000 beds in 2025: 623- bed Avon Point in Bristol, with a total development cost of £75 million and a £59 million mixed-use scheme at Burnet Point in Edinburgh. Read more in the Development and partnership activity p29 Disposals: Board governance of our portfolio recycling as we increase our alignment of our portfolio to the UK’s strongest university cities, while generating capital to invest in further development activity. Property/development risk Read more p58 Board oversight of the sale of ten properties, generating proceeds of £142 million. These funds will be recycled into investment activity, including new university partnerships and will be used to settle the remaining redemption requests in USAF. Read more in the Disposals p32 Dividend Policy: Board governance of our Dividend Policy. Financial risk Read more p61 Board focus on dividend payments with a payout ratio of 80% of adjusted EPS. THE UNITE GROUP PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025 97