We led a six-week programme to support 22 aspiring women into construction, with many gaining employment in the industry as a result.
The programme was delivered in partnership with Women into Construction, an independent not-for-profit organisation that promotes gender equality in construction, our supply chain partners, and Capital City College Training (CCCT).
The programme kicked off with the participants learning about employability and how to market themselves to potential employers. To put their skills into practice, we coordinated speed interviews with our supply chain partners - Blade Flooring, Briggs Amasco, Deep Contractors, Foundation Development, Kane Group, Interior Partnership and Rossbro - with a total of 165 physical and virtual interviews being held.
The interviews were an opportunity for the women to gain a 2-week work placement on our Gascoigne site in East London and at locations across the capital. The placements focussed on skills such as document control, decorating, quality assurance, health and safety and site management.
Two participants, Mary and Yinka worked with the Gascoigne site team of Kane Group, learning about quality control, quantity surveying, site management and document control.
Yinka, who joined up with the Kane team, said of her experience: “I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with Kane and have gained a wide range of experience and understanding of what it is like to be on site and work within the construction industry. I’ve learnt different skill sets by doing things like formulating and delivering toolbox talks, being involved in final fix installations of domestic water in flats, looking into quality, seeing what goes into a successful audit and learning how to use the hollow builder tool.”
Throughout the programme, the women learned valuable skills and gained real-world insights into construction. The work placements, however, provided them with practical experience and transferrable workplace skills sought after by employers. Following their placements, four of the participants were offered paid employment. Annetta, who had been working as an administrator for Deep Contractors, has now joined the company full time. Temi has now secured a role with Rossbro within their painting and decorating team. Mary has taken up employment as a project support assistant at Interior Partnerships and Ioana has secured a trainee manager role at Briggs Amasco.
Briggs Amasco Assistant Managing Director, Tony Lawther said: “We were impressed with the skills and aptitude of the women during the speed interview session, and we are happy to announce that we are able to offer the trainee management position to Ioana starting in January 2022 after a very successful two-week work placement in December.”
Reflecting on the programme, Women into Construction Project Manager, Anna Walterskotter said: “Taking part in the work placements and site visit helped the women to carve out a better understanding of potential avenues into construction. It has been a pleasure to hear how quickly the women used site terminology. Having worked in site teams will help the candidates immensely during interviews to tap into real-life examples.”
