Our Purpose

What gives us Purpose?

At Sava our purpose is empowering people and organisations to make a positive impact towards making buildings better by giving them the skills and technology they need to adapt and thrive in a fast-changing world.

We try to live our purpose through our work every day by focusing on four principles:

Making a difference

We work in sectors that create a real difference to the environment or to people’s lives

Committed to quality

We are committed to quality and “doing the right thing”, which has been part of our DNA since we were formed in 1983

Develop through innovation

We develop products and services that are innovative and provide customers with a new approach to meeting their objectives

Success through enabling

We grow by enabling Sava team members and our customers to build success and achieve their full potential

The Sava values and purpose remain as relevant for the future as they did 40 years ago. By helping to Make Buildings Better we create happier people and a cleaner environment for all.”

Austin Baggett
Managing Director,
Sava

Why is Making Buildings Better important to us

There are 29 million residential properties in the UK. Combined, their worth is valued at over £7.4 trillion. They are a national asset of the highest social and economic importance.

But at an individual level, the home provides security, shelter, belonging and identify. And yet, we face many challenges with our housing. In addition to affordability and adequate supply, the quality of our homes can be greatly improved. Energy efficiency and the impact on climate change, the affordability of keeping warm, providing a safe and hazard free environment, their adaption to changing work/life balance and their adaption to increased summertime overheating are just some of the issues that we need to tackle.

Sava is helping to make buildings better, principally through increasing skills and knowledge, and providing technology to analyse their performance and make recommendations for improvement.

¹ Savills, 12 March 2021

29M
29 million residential properties in the UK

19^%
19% of UK carbon emissions come from the heat and hot water we use in our homes

£7.4 trillion
£7.4 trillion combined worth of
properties in the UK

Meet the Team

Helen Orme

Director of Marketing and Training Sales
Helen Orme joined the Sava team in 2006 and became Head of Customer Engagement in 2020 before progressing into the role of Director of Marketing and Training Sales in 2024. Her job role includes looking after marketing and training delivery. She is passionate about promoting Sava and seeing our learners start new fulfilling careers.

Helen studied Business Management with Marketing at University and is a Chartered Institute of Marketing Member.

Helen enjoys attending events with Sava and loves cooking and renovating her house.
Hilary Grayson

Director
Hilary Grayson joined Sava in 2003 and is now a Director focusing much of her time on the development of new qualifications.

Following a degree in Estate Management at Southbank Polytechnic (now LSBU), Hilary qualified as a General Practice Surveyor in 1983 leading her to work for private consultancies in London and Bromley Council before joining RICS at Great George Street. She joined Surveyors and Valuers Accreditation Ltd which was later acquired by NES Ltd (now Sava). At Sava, she went on to set up the original assessment centre and created the Diploma in Residential Surveying and Valuation.

Hilary enjoys making art in her garden studio, walking her dogs by the Grand Union Canal, modern art and listening to vintage radio dramas. She is also a trustee at Westbury Arts Centre in Shenley Wood here in Milton Keynes.
Alys Brown

Relationship Manager
Alys Brown joined Sava in 2021 as a member of the software relationship team. She delivers software demonstrations to potential clients and manages our customer relationships. Alys is also on the Sava Wellness Committee helping to organise our staff events and looking after the wellbeing of our staff.

She graduated from the University of Lincoln in 2016 with BA (Hons) in Drama, and the faculty award for school leadership. Previously she has worked in hospitality, as a Sales Executive and an event planner at the DoubleTree Hilton Hotel, and as a customer experience supervisor, focused on customer relationships, engagement, and retention.

In her spare time Alys enjoys going to the theatre, baking, and performing in amateur shows. Last Christmas she had a leading role in Cinderella at the Venue theatre!
Austin Baggett

Managing Director
Austin leads the Sava team in its mission to deliver innovative solutions that increase skills within the built environment sector, as well as helping to reduce carbon emissions and fuel costs within housing.

After studying civil engineering, Austin started his career with ECD Architects and Energy Consultants in 1991 where he helped to co-develop the early BREEAM schemes and qualified as one of the UK’s first NHER energy assessors. He subsequently held positions within marketing and business development with low energy technology product manufacturers before joining National Energy Services (the previous company name for Sava) in 2001. Austin is a chartered engineer and was made an Eminent Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in 2013.

Outside work, Austin enjoys tinkering about with his low energy home and vintage hi-fi and thinking about learning to play his electric guitar.