果冻影院

This International Women鈥檚 Day, we鈥檝e spoken to some of the amazing women who work in various roles in 果冻影院 and elsewhere in the Byggfakta UK Group.

We asked them a number of questions, such as; what drew them to want to work in the construction industry, how they feel women are represented in the industry, and what advice they have for women wanting to join the sector, and the answers are incredibly insightful.

As construction continues to evolve and revolutionise, it presents new opportunities to increase gender diversity and open up new progression pathways for women. It鈥檚 an exciting time for an industry looking to revitalise its workforce, investing in new, diverse skill sets and ways of thinking.

Vicci McEwen, CEO, 果冻影院

Vicci is an expert in running data intelligence and sales optimisation businesses in competitive markets, with a long-standing career that focuses on B2B with extensive experience and success in leading data-rich subscription models.

How did you get into the industry? 鈥淚n a twist of fate, I took a temporary job after my gap year and was hooked immediately.鈥�

What led you to want to work in the industry? 鈥淭he built environment is a fascinating space, ever-evolving, and ever-innovating. Construction is at the heart of our economy, and the unique view that 果冻影院 provides allows insights into emerging and declining markets, helping the industry to focus on growth opportunities.鈥�

Do you feel that women are fairly represented in the industry? Have perceptions changed? 鈥淭he industry has come a long way since I joined it 23 years ago. In the early years of my career, it was rare to come across another female in any construction organisation!

鈥淓ven if we look at the evolution of 果冻影院, I was the first female board member in 2005, the first female Managing Director in 2018, and the first female CEO in 2020. The board was predominantly male until 5 years ago, we now very proudly have a 42% female representation at board level and 63% overall.

鈥淲e see many more talented women in the industry now, operating at all levels and it is getting better and better each year.

鈥淭he perception is shifting in the right way, however, I do think women still have to work harder and 鈥榚arn their stripes鈥� in our industry if they want to have their voices heard. We鈥檙e getting there, but there is still work to be done.鈥�

How could the industry attract more women? 鈥淓ngagement in the latter school years is where I would focus, educating our future workforce, we are always looking for opportunities to work with schools, colleges, and universities to bring construction to life and educate on the opportunities the industry has to offer.鈥�

What鈥檚 the one piece of advice you would give to women thinking about pursuing a career in the sector? 鈥淕o for it, it is a colourful, interesting, exciting industry with great opportunities.鈥�

Joanne Keit, Commercial Director, 果冻影院

Joanne has a business background, with 15 years鈥� experience in the construction industry. In her current role, she leads a dedicated commercial department with the goal of providing a world-class customer experience.听

How did you get into the industry you're in? 鈥淏y accident! I used to work in finance and when the global financial crisis hit in 2007, I wanted to move away from that sector, as a lot of people did. I was introduced to 果冻影院, loved the principle and vision for the company so I made the move.听At the time I knew very little to nothing about construction, so I learnt.听 I started as a Trainer, learnt the industry, worked to understand the pain points in the industry, specific to our product offering, demonstrated my knowledge, and as that grew so did my role and responsibilities until I ended up in the position I am now, Commercial Director.鈥�

What led you to want to work in the industry you're in? 鈥淐hance more than anything but as I understood the industry, I realised just how diverse the sector was and how many opportunities there were.听The industry is always changing and that makes it interesting.听Over the last 15 years sustainability has become a hot topic with more construction projects requiring environmentally friendly and sustainable materials, and that leads to innovation and constant development.鈥�

Do you feel that women are fairly represented in the industry you're in? Have perceptions changed? 鈥淲hen I first joined 果冻影院 15 years ago I rarely spoke to a female decision-maker, the industry was heavily male-dominated and female voices were rarely taken as being credible. I do remember hearing a fair few 鈥楬i darlin鈥� in answer to my phone calls!

鈥淭his is changing, we鈥檙e now seeing more directors and senior female leaders in construction, though there is still a way to go to have women evenly represented across lower levels, not just at a senior level. And with that change in representation has come more respect and equal footing.听At 果冻影院 we have a female CEO and a board of directors and managers which are evenly split, that鈥檚 meant female voices are heard and perception has changed.鈥�

How could the industry you're in attract more women? 鈥淐onstruction and tech are two industries that are historically male-dominated. The industry needs to demonstrate they are open to female salespeople, marketers, estimators, engineers, and managers so women at all entry levels can see the opportunities open to them. More showcasing needs to happen to show women can, and are, being successful in the industry.鈥�

What's the one piece of advice you would give to women thinking about pursuing a career in the sector? 鈥淜nowledge on the industry (any industry) can be learned, what matters are your skills. Be confident, speak up, be heard - your perspective matters.鈥�

Kirsty Bolingbroke, Content Operations Manager, 果冻影院

Kirsty joined 果冻影院 straight from university, and quickly became an indispensable part of the business.

How did you get into the industry you're in? 鈥淭his was completely by chance, following my degree I was looking for research/analytics jobs & 果冻影院 were hiring for a research executive to join their Content team.鈥�

What led you to want to work in the industry you're in? 鈥淚鈥檝e always been interested in analysing data, whether it鈥檚 in an Excel spreadsheet or a book that鈥檚 a hundred years old. I鈥檒l admit that I didn鈥檛 think there was a place for me in construction and I never considered the data/analytics side of the industry. But I鈥檓 still here 6 years later.鈥�

Do you feel that women are fairly represented in the industry you're in? Have perceptions changed? 鈥淲ith regards to perceptions, I can talk from personal experience, when I was a kid I always presumed that women wouldn鈥檛 work in construction. Whenever I walked past a construction site it was always male dominated. Joining 果冻影院 helped change that perception, every customer I talk to is in the construction industry, and there hasn鈥檛 been many calls/visits where a woman hasn鈥檛 been present. Those roles have varied from operational, analytical, and on-site roles. I鈥檓 not sure women are fairly represented, there is still the stereotype lingering that construction is a male dominated industry, but from my recent experience that isn鈥檛 the case.鈥�

How could the industry you're in attract more women? 鈥淪howing people that the industry is more than just the site works they see out and about.鈥�

What's the one piece of advice you would give to women thinking about pursuing a career in the sector? 鈥淟ook at the roles and responsibilities of any company advertising for positions, if you think you can do the job don鈥檛 be frightened to apply just because you think it鈥檚 male dominated. I did it and was pleasantly surprised by the results.鈥�

Tina Pringle, Director of Technical Information, NBS

Over the last 25 years, Tina鈥檚 experience has taken her from construction product manufacturing to built environment consultancy, major capital project development to asset management and master planning. Her work now covers the digital dimension of the built environment 鈥� working with platforms, products, and customers to deliver the digital construction information and data requirements of the future.

How did you get into the industry? 鈥淚 started my career nearly 30 years ago in product manufacturing, going on to run a company that designed, built, and fitted-out hospitals and schools. As BIM developed, I made the move to NBS to work on construction specification, model integration, and construction products.鈥�

What led you to want to work in the industry? 鈥淚 really enjoyed seeing the building design landscape develop. As the industry has become more digitised, I saw the importance of information and data sharing and the potential for that data to revolutionise the way construction assets are built and managed.鈥�

Do you feel that women are fairly represented in the industry? Have perceptions changed? 鈥淚 think the number of women in the industry has massively grown since I started my career. I see more women in both onsite and senior project lead and management roles than ever before, which is great.鈥�

How could the industry attract more women? 鈥淥pportunities in the construction industry need to be highlighted in schools and careers talks. This is the time that many young women are evaluating what skills they may need for their future careers, and it鈥檚 important that they have access to role models to show them different and diverse career paths.鈥�

What's the one piece of advice you would give to women thinking about pursuing a career in the sector? 鈥淕et yourself a mentor in the industry and see if you can shadow someone even just for the day! Research what different types of jobs there are in the built environment, you would be surprised.鈥�

Helen Frame, UK Group Director of Product, NBS

Helen has 20 years鈥� experience in a FTSE100 tech company: eight years in technical support, sales, and product training, people and project management roles; as well as 12 years in a commercial marketing environment managing product sets through multiple channels from acquisition to retention.

How did you get into the industry? 鈥淚 wanted to apply for a role in a larger organisation in the North East that was well-known, a tech leader with great brand awareness, where I felt there would be good career opportunities. I started in a technical support role, slowly building my knowledge of the products.

鈥淚 carefully selected, applied, and was successful in various roles that grew my skillset, and now have a strong commercial and product background that enables me to hopefully work to add value in any business or industry.

鈥淚 chose NBS because it was on a journey to becoming a commercially focused organisation and there was opportunity to use my commercial and product skillset to influence the direction, support others and make a real difference.鈥�

What led you to want to work in the industry? 鈥淭echnology is everywhere, in personal and work life. It鈥檚 used in most businesses from infrastructure to software and to support their everyday business processes. It can massively impact business efficiencies and accuracy, and be revolutionary at times. It鈥檚 exciting to see the change that businesses go through, be part of their journey and support them with it.

鈥淎lso, from a business point of view, and certainly being in a product role, it requires a skillset that enables you to collaborate, influence and work with pretty much everyone across the organisation which whilst challenging at times can be very rewarding.

鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to be the most technical person to work in a tech business either, different roles require different skillsets. I work closely with a Technology Director and our skillsets complement each other - he makes sure our technology stack is secure, modern, and futureproofed, while I make sure it solves customer and market problems, is aligned with our business strategy, and has a clear return on investment.鈥�

Do you feel that women are fairly represented in the industry? Have perceptions changed? 鈥淚鈥檇 say the tech industry is still weighted more towards men filling roles than women, but I鈥檓 a firm believer in the right person for the role regardless. We just need more women to apply for them!鈥�

How could the industry attract more women? 鈥淗ave more forums led by women in tech roles, giving women additional confidence to join in. It鈥檚 vital to hold events like this so that pre-existing perceptions can be countered by real women in real jobs.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a mistake to go down the women only route for these groups or forums 鈥� it鈥檚 important to have men speaking out about the brilliant women they work with.

鈥淲e need to start early with the next generation, and continue to change the perception in schools that boys are better at science and tech, and girls are more suited to the arts. Let鈥檚 offer more opportunities for young people to learn about different industries and career pathways beyond higher education routes.鈥�

What's the one piece of advice you would give to women thinking about pursuing a career in the sector? 鈥淕o for it! If you鈥檙e interested in tech, make sure you have the skillset or identify what you need to get you there and set yourself some personal development goals. Jobs are rarely given to people who have the complete skillset, everyone has room to grow, so don鈥檛 be put off if you don鈥檛 think you tick all the boxes.鈥�听

Lindi Teate, Chief People Officer, Byggfakta Group

Lindi has been working in the people and culture space for over 20 years, operating across several sectors, but she is currently on a mission, along with her team, to create exceptional colleague experiences that will both attract and retain the best talent across the Byggfakta Group global footprint.

How did you get into the industry? 鈥淢y route into the industry wasn鈥檛 a direct one 鈥� I think I was attracted to the idea of a role in an industry I didn鈥檛 know much about! My career has allowed me to pivot through multiple sectors, so I was open and excited to the industry鈥檚 challenges.鈥�

What led you to want to work in the industry? 鈥淚t was a pretty big pivot for me, but the opportunity for change and transformation in a rapidly moving industry was a real pull factor in my decision to change direction. Almost seven years later I鈥檓 still very happy with the leap of faith that I took to join NBS and more recently my role as Chief People Officer at Byggfakta Group.鈥�

Do you feel that women are fairly represented in the industry? Have perceptions changed? 鈥淚鈥檓 really proud that Byggfakta Group is an almost 50/50 employer across our global footprint, however, we do still have a distance to travel for fair representation in the industry, particularly for Board and senior management.

鈥淣onetheless, the understanding, intent and call to action for change is authentic, at least in my experience. I also don鈥檛 think our industry stands alone in this challenge. I鈥檓 fortunate to be surrounded by lots of incredible women within our global business who are hugely competent, proud and ambitious trailblazers in this industry, changing perceptions, and standing as role models for all the right reasons.

鈥淢y experience has been one of support and advocacy from women in the industry and a genuine allyship from wider colleagues to take responsibility to ensure we improve our representation and create a culture with pathways that support all colleagues, including women, to thrive and build careers.鈥�

How could the industry attract more women? 鈥淲e need to go back to basics and ensure that our hiring processes are absent of bias and that our employee value proposition is balanced on the talent pipeline we want for our future workforce.

鈥淲e also need to get comfortable in challenging each other to impact change from the ground up. The construction industry has years of history to unwind to be positioned as an industry of choice for women but I鈥檓 hopeful that we can change perceptions through visibility of role models, flexible and family-friendly benefits for all colleagues, pathways to progression and routes to join our industry that are absent of bias and welcoming to all.鈥�

What's the one piece of advice you would give to women thinking about pursuing a career in the sector? 鈥淒on鈥檛 be put off by any historic perceptions or bias, come and join us and judge for yourself! I think you鈥檒l be pleasantly surprised at the progressive changes that are being made to ensure we create fantastic experiences and careers for all colleagues across the construction sector.鈥�