In what is a traditionally male-dominated industry, we want to take the opportunity to shed some light on the brilliant women in construction looking to change attitudes and boardrooms. We’ve spoke to a range of women across the industry to learn their journeys and understand the frustrations that they have dealt with across their time in construction.
There’s plenty for us all to keep learning and improving upon when it comes to representation within construction, so take a look below and dive into whatever piece takes your interest.
An Interview with Louise Williamson of BAM Facilities Management
We spoke to Louise Williamson of BAM FM. Louise leads BAM’s hard services and integrated facilities management divisions, having moved into the facilities management industry in 2007.
We ask Louise about her inspiration for getting into construction, how she got to where she is now in a male dominated sector and what firms must do to encourage and benefit from gender diversity in their senior management teams.
An Interview with Olivia Atkinson, Client Services Manager at Insynth Marketing
Partner organisation of Barbour ABI, Project Prospecta, spoke to Olivia Atkinson, Client Services Manager at Insynth Marketing to learn from her experiences in construction marketing.
Insynth are specialists in construction marketing, and Olivia has been working at the company for just over 2 years. Olivia discusses the benefits of working within the industry, alongside her frustrations with the lack of opportunities and experience for women outside of certain roles.
Women in Construction – by Romy Rawlings, Chartered Landscape Architect and Commercial Director for Vestre
International Women’s Day 2021 took place in March, and Romy Rawlings, an esteemed Chartered Landscape Architect and Commercial Director for Vestre, wrote an article for Barbour ABI on her personal experience of the lack of gender equality across the industry.
Romy’s 30 year career has widely spanned across architecture, sales and marketing in the landscape industry. Here she looks at topics such as: recruitment, retention and recognition to explain how and why gender disparities still exist across construction.
Whilst positive change has occurred during Romy’s career, it has came at far too slow of a pace. Romy’s article ends with examples of the more equal society that exists in her employer’s home nation of Norway, and the steps that can be put in place within the U.K. to aim towards achieving similar goals here.
Cristina Turcu – A Life Changing Tale
For our final piece, we wrote a profile on Cristina Turcu, site administrator at Sisk, who has a fantastic success story having taken an unorthodox route into the industry. Cristina came to the UK in 2017 and began work in construction cleaning sites and was recognised and promoted due to her hard work and enthusiasm.
Cristina discusses how Sisk gave her pathway to climb the ladder and how, with help from Sisk’s training schemes, she has gone from strength to strength in the industry and changed her life.
