Bradfords hosts roundtable to celebrate International Women’s Day at Exeter Chiefs’ grounds.
In advance of International Women’s Day, Bradfords hosted a roundtable session at the Exeter Chief Women’s ground, to celebrate women in construction in the South West.
As well as discussing their career paths and experiences, the group put forward practical actions that would help attract and retain women in the construction sector, to be taken forward by Bradfords and its partners.
As a founding member of the Construction Inclusion Coalition, and through initiatives such as the BMF, Bradfords has a platform to connect and influence the wider sector to improve efforts around equality, diversity, and inclusion.
The session was chaired by Bradfords’ Regional Director Cath Mullin, and attended by Sally Woofenden, Co-Founder and Financial Director of Woofenden Construction, Samantha Wilson, Head of Apprenticeships at Exeter College and Claire Evans, Director of SC Evans Development.
Bradfords’ employees Chelsea Bradford, Sales Advisor, Georgie Sansom, Sales Development Manager and Charlotte Porteous, Stock and Operational Process supervisor, also attended, as well as current Exeter College apprentices, Ellen Shaw and Ashleigh Freeman, studying civil engineering and architecture respectively.
Chief Coach of the Exeter Chiefs’ Women’s team Susie Appleby, and Exeter Chiefs backrow Linde Van Der Velden, and a part-time architect were also part of the panel.
Bringing together women at the start of their careers with more experienced counterparts and representing not just merchanting but wider construction including development and education – as well as high-level sport - the discussion covered a broad range of topics.
Mullin joined Bradfords in 2016 having began her career in builders’ merchanting 25 years ago. She said: “When I started, it was rare for women to opt for a career in construction, but today there are more women in our sector than ever before, but there’s still so much more to be done to level the playing field.
“It was great to bring together an amazing group of women from a range of different backgrounds for this roundtable, to share ideas to bring about genuine change within our industries.”
David Young, CEO at Bradfords, added: “It’s encouraging to see we’re headed in the right direction but clearly there’s lots more work to be done. There are so many exciting and rewarding career paths to choose from in construction and merchanting and with the right attitude and training, there’s some incredible prospects there for the taking. At Bradfords, we encourage everyone – regardless of gender – to take advantage of these opportunities.”
As a result of the discussions as part of this Roundtable, Bradfords will be setting up an internal working group to take forward the recommendations, as well as acting on suggestions made by attendees about the importance of work experience opportunities for young women considering their post-16 pathways.
