Celebrating International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day on 8 March provided a great opportunity to showcase the talented women who make up our diverse multi-utility construction business and show our appreciation.

The campaign theme for 2024, #InspireInclusion, provides an ideal platform for us to talk about the action we are taking to promote careers and encourage more women into our industry.

The growing number of women in construction is now at its highest since official records began, which is encouraging, yet women still only account for 15 per cent of the workforce.

Multi-utility services also remain largely male dominated, but we are working hard to change perceptions and show that there are rewarding roles for women. We are pleased to be making progress too, with our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report showing that in 2022/2023 we increased female representation to 20 per cent across our business, which is a rise of 6 per cent.

Women also occupy influential roles, including our two female directors who serve as fantastic role models for any women that are considering joining our team. Looking to the future, nearly one third of our apprentices are female, signalling our commitment to attracting young women to start their careers with Aptus.

Highlights from the 2022/2023 report include:

• 20% of our workforce are women and during the year our numbers increased by 6%
• 14% of Group Board roles are held by women
• 43% of Executive Team roles were held by women
• 29% of our apprentice intake were women
• 36% of those on individual learning plans are women

The Lighthouse Club Construction Industry Charity were also active during the first week of March, promoting Women in Construction Week. The annual campaign raises awareness about the achievements of women in construction roles and advocates for equal opportunities within the industry.

More information on the campaign and how your organisation can support Women in Construction is at www.constructionindustryhelpline.com/women-in-construction-week.html

In our publication Connections we regularly shine a light on our female talent by featuring articles, interviews, and expert insights from our project managers, engineers, designers and other skilled teammates. In our Spring 20224 issue we are proud to introduce Chloe Armstrong, a former apprentice who now has a lead role within our gas team. Chloe joined on a business administration apprenticeship with Aptus in 2016 and with support from Aptus advanced in her career and is now undertaking a course in management to further support her progression. You can read about her journey from apprentice to gas admin supervisor here.

By giving visibility to all those who contribute to our success, we hope to inspire more women into our industry. Our commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) sets out our ambitions to shape a more diverse and inclusive future for people and businesses in our sector, which you can find here.

Natasha Clarke, people director, commented:

“International Women’s Day is a day to take stock and reflect on achievements towards gender parity across the board. Whilst female talent must be nurtured throughout the year, IWD is another way to shine a spotlight on positive female role models doing brilliant things so that those new to the industry are inspired and can see a clear, achievable career path. As a business with a female managing director, this is especially important.

“Change is happening in the utilities and construction sector but there’s still a way to go and that’s why it’s so important to Inspire Inclusion. We’re set to face huge talent shortages in the next decade, and encouraging more female talent is one way to address this.

“Raising awareness of the huge range of career opportunities is essential in making females feel included. This year, almost 30 per cent of Aptus Academy candidates are female, studying for apprenticeships and qualifications covering everything from utility design and business administration to project management. We’d like to see this grow even more in the years to come. We still have work to do to encourage and support more women in site-based roles but we’re moving in the right direction.”

Published on 8th March 2024