To mark International Women’s Day, leading developer Lovell has been encouraging women across the UK to lay foundations for a career in the construction industry.
Taking place on Friday 8th March, the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day was ‘Inspire Inclusion,’ which is all about teaching individuals and organisations how they can support and involve women in both the workplace and their personal lives.
One employee at Lovell looking to inspire women is Amy Borrowdale, aged 28, a trainee Site Manager who works at Drummond Park – a development in Ludgershall, Wiltshire.
Initially working in care, Amy switched to the construction industry when she moved to Andover and began working as a site cleaner. In October 2022, she moved to Lovell’s Drummond Park development. By April 2023, Amy was more involved with the construction side of the business, and in June changed her role to Trainee Site Manager.
Amy said, “When I first joined Lovell, I started picking up knowledge about housebuilding. I stumbled into the industry by accident, but soon realised that the more I got involved, the more I wanted to know and to progress.
“Growing up, no women I knew worked in construction-based roles, but the world has changed and the industry is unrecognisable to where it was 30 years ago. The longer I’m here, the more women I’m seeing join.”
Talking about her role and her career goals, Amy continued, “I love working for Lovell. The praise I’ve received over the last few months is amazing, it’s really boosted my self-esteem and the help I get from Lovell is phenomenal. Everyone’s more than happy to offer their support.
“This job has helped me massively by pushing me out of my comfort zone and giving me the confidence and self-belief that I can achieve my goals. My advice to women looking to start a career in construction is to just go for it, progress and become confident to be your best self.
“I’m currently working to becoming an Assistant Site Manager at Drummond Park, and my ultimate goal is to become a Site Manager in the next five to 10 years.”
James Duffett, Regional Managing Director at Lovell, said, “We are inspired by Amy and the women at Lovell every day. Our company and the wider construction industry thrives on diversity and inclusion, and all of us at Lovell are passionate about encouraging more women to join our sector. We’d like to invite everyone to take a moment to reflect this International Women’s Day, and consider how they could inspire change.”
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that in Q2 of 2023, 2,152,000 people in the UK worked in construction, but just 340,000 of those people were women, slightly under 16 per cent.
Drummond Park is being delivered by Lovell in partnership with Homes England, and will consist of 412 homes on the former Defence Medical Equipment Depot.
For more information on Drummond Park, visit, lovell.co.uk/developments/drummond-park-ludgershall/.
Pictured above: Amy Borrowdale, Trainee Site Manager at Drummond Park
