In the spirit of International Women’s Day, we spent today at a careers fair hosted by Simon Langton Girls’ Grammar School as part of our Early Engagement. b&m dedicated the day to informing students about our industry and the ways to enter. It’s inspiring for us to watch young girls develop an intrigue for Construction.
In an industry that lacks female representation, we’re proud that 47% of our staff are women. This is considerably high for construction and we’re exceptionally proud to beat the norms. Women offer a perspective and insight that is necessary to b&m’s daily runnings. We appreciate the hard work and dedication that our women offer us consistently.
Women are included in each of our departments. As part of our main operations, currently our Project Surveyors are Becky Port, Charlotte Cox, Lauren Gillmore, Alex Shearman and Cathy Moyo. Becky’s been in construction for 18 years, Charlotte for 12 years, Lauren for 4 years, Alex for 4 years and Cathy for just over a year with many more to come.
We aim to support their careers the best that we can and encourage them to feel valued as Women in Construction. Lauren is one of many examples as she is currently undergoing a BSc in Quantity Surveying facilitated by b&m’s apprenticeship scheme.
Lauren Gillmore, one of b&m’s apprentices
Because we understand the value of women in construction, we aim to encourage more women to enter the industry. The odds are against this as statistics have shown that the current lack of women in the industry further discourages women from entering in the first instance.
Upon initially entering the male dominated industry, Becky admits that there were challenges.
“Sometimes being heard was a challenge. However, I would say the industry has come a long way in the last 10 years and the opportunities for women in construction are infinite” – she said.
“I have always had a keen interest in understanding how buildings are constructed, this combined with my love of maths, Quantity Surveying seemed the perfect fit. Growing up, I was fortunate to be surrounded by many of my close family members working in the industry, which certainly had an influential effect on me.”
A passion for construction was a common theme when speaking to the ladies of b&m. We encourage women to explore this passion as there are many career routes one can take within the industry. To find out more, why not take a test to find out which route may be right for you… https://www.goconstruct.org/construction-careers/what-jobs-are-right-for-me/
In celebration of women, we asked our ladies what they love the most about being a woman. Their answers are exactly why Women’s Day is so important.
“I admire everything about women. We face so many challenges but remain strong and adaptable” – Nathalie Evele
“Being resilient yet kind; as the quote goes, ‘here’s to strong women, may we know them, may we be them, may we raise them’.” – Becky Port
“The sense of support women always provide to one another other is admirable” – Alex Shearman
“Women are strong. It makes me proud to see the ways we challenge ourselves in and out of work” – Charlotte Cox
Happy Women’s Day to you all!
