06 Mar 2024
During Women in Construction Week 2024, and in celebration of International Women’s Day on Friday 8th March, we’re featuring the career stories of women from across our business, and their experiences of working in the fast-paced and ever-evolving construction sector.
Women in Construction Week 2024
Anna joined the company in 2022. Two years later, and Anna now manages one of our largest ever projects in Sheffield. It’s hard work, but rewarding, managing groundworker teams and overseeing the construction of walls, drilling and piling.
Anna’s now more involved in the commercial side of things too, dealing with subcontractors, applications for payment, and programming the job through Asta Powerproject software. Anna has no complaints as a woman on a construction site:
‘Everyone is very respectful and nice!’
Having considered a career in forensic science, Bonnie instead joined McAuliffe’s in-house apprenticeship scheme in 2023 to train as a Construction Plant Operative. Just twelve months later, she has already achieved her red CSCS card in two categories.
Not one for standing still, she is now aiming for more categories:
‘The digger is next, and then getting to grips with GPS. I love it, I’m so glad I took the opportunity to work in this industry. It doesn’t bother me being the only female on site - I’m treated just like anyone else. It feels empowering as a woman. There is always something new to learn in the construction industry, and it is never boring’.
Katie passed her digger test when 24 weeks pregnant and left to go on maternity leave in March 2023. One year later, she’s now back on site, driving an excavator.
‘I felt supported when pregnant. Tasks I couldn’t do, I wasn’t expected to do, and I had clear, designated areas to park so I wasn’t on uneven ground. HR has been helpful supporting me, for example, with a change to my working days. The beauty of working in this industry is that I am able work in a different location, so I’m currently stationed at the yard and can get home in time for baby’s bedtime!’
Echoing the message from Birmingham Housing Week created by Lovell, Birmingham City Council and MOBIE in February this year, construction jobs are not only site based, but also include ’back of house’ jobs in departments such as Haulage, Marketing and Finance.
Now a trainee accountant, Helen started her career at McAuliffe working in reception. Keen to gain experience in other departments, Helen progressed to working within the Haulage team, where she managed invoicing for haulage, amongst other duties.
Fast-forward to 2024 and Helen is a key member of the Accounts team, having completed her Level 2 AAT Accountancy certification and now aims to progress to level 3 when time allows.
‘There are lots of facets to a role in the construction industry. I’d happily recommend [working in this industry] to other women. Don’t be put off! I feel well supported in the office and find it a varied and interesting industry’.
Kirsty joined McAuliffe through our in-house apprenticeship scheme two years ago and has become an important part of the Haulage team, now managing the day-to-day running of the McAuliffe fleet via Fissara software.
She has not long passed her driving test and is now in the process of learning to drive an HGV. This way, Kirsty can experience first-hand the issues the HGV drivers she looks after encounter - this girl has ambition!
‘If I can drive and operate an HGV, I won’t have to go to my boss and can sort the issue myself. This time next year, I hope to have completed my CPC Transport Manager qualification.’
Although Donna studied Business Studies at college, she never envisaged working in the construction industry. Donna has now been with McAuliffe for six years and her role sees her primarily office based, yet often attending site.
She supports site staff, deals with operational issues via weekly team calls, and is heavily involved in the company tender process, working with the estimating department. A far cry from the nannying career that she had for twenty years, yet one that is still varied, busy and interesting!
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