Robert Woodhead Ltd has recently supported Nottingham City Homes in its annual Women in Construction event; the initiative encourages women to enter into this male-dominated sector through guided site tours and talks from women already working in the construction industry.
The free-to-attend event took place at the Eastglade construction site in Top Valley, where 106 new homes are being built. The event was open to all women interested in learning about a career in construction and received a great deal of interest.
Alison Brown, Director of Property Services at Nottingham City Homes and an advocate of women in the construction industry, said, “Our Women in Construction initiative presents a whole range of opportunities to women wanting to enter this exciting and growing industry. It’s great to work with the Woodheads team to give those attending our workshops some real insight into what happens on a live construction site.”
Course attendees were escorted around Eastglade for an initial site visit to grasp a visual understanding of construction groundwork labour, exploring the different stages of the houses on site. The tour was accompanied by Robert Woodhead Ltd’s Project Manager, Craig McLaughlin, who lent insight to each stage of the construction processes. Attendees also were able to go inside some of the properties to see their structural make-up.
The visit also included talks from women in the industry including Shanice Wallace, Quantity Surveyor at Robert Woodhead Ltd, Amanda Thompson, Operational Resource Planner at Nottingham City Homes, Emily Tantrum, Assistant Development Manager at Robert Woodhead Ltd, and architect Barbara Stillman from Pelham Architects.
Holly, an attendee, stated “I thoroughly enjoyed the WiC2 event and found it very interesting. The experience had many insights into the working world of construction for all, including women. I believe it to be a great opportunity and hope to attend more in the future”.
Following the visit, a number of individuals taking part in the tour expressed interest in finding out more and seeking to enter the construction sector.
Craig McLaughlin, Project Manager at the Eastglade site, commented “It was fantastic to see so many people engaged and learning about the construction industry. It’s important to break the stigma and let women or any individual who thinks they can’t be in this sector know that they can. The attendees really enjoyed listening to our guest speakers, who all had different experiences of getting into construction, which showed attendees that it is possible despite their different life stages and commitments.”