How high-vis women can build a role in construction

The construction industry isn’t all about muddy sites and hard hats.

So says the boss of Women in Property, a group that aims to improve the gender balance on building sites.

Only around 15pc of the construction workforce is female, according to the Office for National Statistics, a number that has stayed stubbornly low despite industry efforts.

Safety first: Kelly Cartwright

It drops even further when you head to the coalface, with the Home Builders Federation (HBF) estimating just 4pc of people on residential sites are women. Yet some figures in the world of construction are spearheading change.

Of the three housebuilders in the FTSE 100, Taylor Wimpey has a female chief executive in Jennie Daly and Barratt Developments has a female chairman in

Caroline Silver.

Anne Billson-Ross, who heads recruitment at Taylor Wimpey, told the Mail: ‘There is no doubt that diversity is an area that requires more effort in the housebuilding sector, which has traditionally attracted fewer women and people from ethnic minorities.

‘While progress is being made, the sector needs to fully reflect the UK’s diversity and continue attracting necessary skills to deliver homes the country needs.’

It is a view echoed by Kelly Cartwright, the boss of her own building site recruitment firm Core Recruiter, who made headlines last year when she turned up at an awards ceremony in a dress made entirely out of high-vis.

The floor-length dress was designed by a seamstress who was given the brief to make Cartwright, 31, feel at ease.

‘I don’t feel comfortable rocking up in a ballgown so I thought I’m going to wear something I do feel comfortable with,’ she tells the Mail. She says it is at big industry events her sense of being an ‘imposter’ kicks in, especially when the rooms are predominantly filled with men.

Behind the glamorous dresses lies a much bigger point. Calling it an ‘untapped labour pool’, Cartwright reckons getting more women into the sector could go some way to solving the well-documented gaps in the industry.

According to estimates from the Construction Skills Network, the industry needs to recruit 45,000 workers per year to meet the demand by 2027. This will mean an additional 225,000 workers.

There is also the issue of an ageing population. In 2011, it was estimated that one in every five UK-born construction workers was 55 and over, meaning by last year these people will have nearly all have reached retirement age.

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Cartwright argues that encouraging children at school level could be the answer. ‘Construction doesn’t seem to be on their radar,’ she says.

‘We would have had a generation coming through with trades because their fathers and grandfathers had done it. We just don’t see this now. There is a dying generation of construction.

‘We are not getting the younger generation coming through and filling these needs.’

And if that doesn’t change, the UK will lack the volume and calibre of skilled builders, a situation that feels even more urgent following Brexit and the pandemic.

Chithra Marsh, chair of Women in Property, believes early education would drive change, as the industry is far from inclusive.

‘Much of this starts in school, where most children and young people have no idea of the breadth and depth of careers available to them in the industry – construction isn’t all about muddy sites and hard hats,’ she said.

Steve Turner, director of the HBF added: ‘Housebuilding faces an acute and deepening skills shortage, and if we do not tackle it, we will not be able to solve the housing crisis. We need the Government to work with industry, colleges, and training providers to ensure students emerge with the skills they and businesses need.’

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk