Electrical Contracting News (ECN) May 2017 | Page 5

EDITORIAL
LADIES’ FIGHT
M
any years ago, in my
pre-journalism days and
fresh out of university, I
was temping in a local
office. A young female
temp who started
around the same time as
me was a school leaver
and we were chatting about what we wanted to do
when we ‘grew up’. I remember acting surprised
when she told me she wanted to train to be an
electrician, thinking it was an unusual career
choice for a young woman. We haven’t stayed in
touch so I’m afraid I can’t tell you whether she
pursued her dream. What I do know is that if we
had the same conversation now, I would probably
react rather differently. Various initiatives aimed at
attracting more women into the trade sector are
beginning to bear fruit, exemplified by Sam Jones’
story in our March issue.
Back in 2013 I attended a reception in the
Houses of Parliament where training charity
JTL launched its Ambassadors programme,
designed to encourage greater understanding
among young women of the career opportunities
available to them in the building services
industry. During the day I quizzed some of
the young ladies who had been selected as
Ambassadors on what their experience had
been like so far. I was pleased to hear that they
Russell Drury,
Editor
MOVERS & SHAKERS…
had been met with a lot of positivity, working
in industries that no so long ago might have
been considered male dominated. In fact, one
explained that many of her clients had been
women, who had therefore felt more comfortable
inviting an unknown woman into their homes,
than they might a man.
Also carrying out sterling work in this matter
is NICEIC with its Jobs for the Girls campaign.
NICEIC recently hosted a networking event in
partnership with the Women on the Tools charity,
where more than 30 women from across the
building services sector met to discuss the issue
of diversity in the construction industry.
The group heard from a female electrician
working for a maintenance firm in London,
where she is the only female out of 250 staff.
Other speakers highlighted the poor teaching of
trades within the education sector, while several
said the issue was never discussed in schools
and that construction was somehow viewed as a
secondary career choice.
So, despite the progress that has undoubtedly
been made, it is obvious there is still plenty of
work to be done, and Certsure CEO Emma Clancy
will be addressing some of these issues in
greater detail in next month’s Key Issue
column. In the meantime, if you have any
stories in relation to this discussion we
would like to hear from you too.
Unitrunk has appointed Neil Bullock to the
role of business development manager, with
responsibility for working with customers and
suppliers in the East Midlands region.
CP Electronics has appointed Brian Hedley as area
sales manager for projects, backed by Neil Baldwin
delivering support for its green-i range of controls,
and John Peter Haughey, who will deliver technical
support and commissioning.
Recolight has announced the appointment of
Francesca Cameron to develop the Recolight
collection network. This new position has been
created to promote the free lamp collection and
recycling service offered by Recolight.
Apollo Fire Detectors has appointmented
Georgios Kastias as its new operations director.
Georgios’ appointment reflects the commitment
made by Apollo to achieving organisational
excellence within the company, spearheaded by
a dynamic and effective leadership team.
SELECT has appointed a new member
representative, the fifth dedicated support officer
in Scotland, who will cover the geographically
and economically diverse territory of the Borders,
Dumfries and Galloway and Ayrshire. Fiona Smith,
who was a ppointed late last year, has already visited
more than 100 firms within the area, helping them
to identify opportunities for growth and highlighting
the availability of bespoke SELECT training courses.