After two years there, I joined Nottingham City Home’s energy team as the Energy Technical Officer and worked on the Energiesprong 2050 homes pilot. Three years on, I was encouraged to go for my current role as Technical Project Manager and I’ve never looked back.

My day-to-day work can involve anything from site inspections, project planning and management, design queries, contract management and stakeholder engagement.

The advice I would give to young people, especially women, thinking about a job in construction would be to try as many different trades as possible to work out what really suits you – you may well be surprised.

I’ve also found that my practical hands-on training has been invaluable – you often don’t consider how much knowledge you pick up ‘being on the tools’. My work in electronics and electrical installations made me curious about mechanical applications and helped me to get my head around community energy systems. At first it was quite daunting, but I’ve been fortunate to have had brilliant support from people that want me to succeed. That’s the culture here at NCH and I feel very lucky to have that working environment.

Not only that, but my time at Nottingham City Homes has really taught me the value of long-term thinking in social housing. While a solution or product may seem like the right choice, I have to think, ‘is this going to be replaceable in 10 years? Will it require any additional maintenance?’ It’s vital for me to use this kind of thinking with the design team to make sure we get solutions that are right for the project and right for our customers.

What I’ve really enjoyed about the Destination Zero approach so far is achieving true collaboration with the different project partners, with all of us bringing our own expertise. Without this, you won’t reach your aims.
So to women thinking about whether there’s a career in this sector for them, I’d say simply work hard and be professional and confident in your abilities. If you want a progressive career in a fast-paced and vibrant industry, then this is the sector for you! There’s a perception that construction is all “bricks and sticks” but that’s just not true.

There’s such a diversity of roles – but perhaps the more innovative ones aren’t promoted as much, so take a good look around.

I also think there’s a real need for the sector to advertise opportunities in a more accessible way. For example, through taster workshops and career days with colleges and employers, and the Women in Construction events that NCH runs regularly. These shouldn’t just be for young people. Older people have a wealth of life experience and if they’re keen to retrain, they should be encouraged to believe that it’s never too late to take a different direction. We need less tokenism and more action.