Inspiring Women

Achieving greater flexibility in working hours for all staff is no mean feat in the sector, especially for site-based roles, but big strides are being made, according to industry leaders speaking at a recent Construction News roundtable debate on workplace gender equality

Our industry has come a long way since I first joined as a young building technician in 1993. Back then terms such as ‘diversity’ or ‘gender balanced teams’ did not figure much on construction sites or in management vocabulary. How far we have come. Fast forward 26 years and it…

The importance of diversity in the workplace is well documented and recognised. But the more involved I become and the more invested I get in encouraging and advocating change, the more it becomes apparent that diversity on its own does not deliver the benefits we might hope for. I serve…

Willmott Dixon has been named the third best company in Europe for diversity in a survey by a national newspaper. The Financial Times commissioned an independent study, which placed the contractor just below Booking.com and Colgate-Palmolive in its top 700 list of “diversity leaders”. The survey, of human resources and…

Changing perceptions of construction is critical to attract more women into the industry. Greg Pitcher looks at how company culture, flexible working and the right environment can be the catalyst for change

The CN Talent Awards honoured people working in the fields of diversity, health, HR and mentoring in construction, on Wednesday evening. Comedian Mark Watson hosted the glittering ceremony at the Honourable Artillery Company in central London. Scroll through the gallery above to see some of the best photos from the night,…

The construction sector, representing nearly one tenth of the UK’s GDP, rarely gets the acknowledgement it deserves. As you hear politicians speaking on the campaign trail about the number of homes they say they will build if they win the general election, count how many times they speak of the businesses…

Last week I attended a diversity event hosted by scaffolding specialist Trad, which featured celebrity author, motivational speaker and charity campaigner Katie Piper – also known as the survivor of a particularly horrific acid attack. I can’t say I knew much about Ms Piper’s life story before attending the event,…

Last week Construction News hosted the latest face-to-face event in its Inspire Me programme, which aims to help women in construction make career progress into the highest levels of management. Chairing the half-day conference in Birmingham, I was acutely aware that I fell outside the target demographic. But I am…

Helping women re-enter the workforce was one of the key themes of Construction News’s Inspire Me conference yesterday in Birmingham. Willmott Dixon head of people operations Clare Williams spoke to a room of 100 delegates about how to attract and retain a diverse workforce. She said creating an agile working…