Liverpool building firm Frank Rogers leads the way in addressing the chronic shortfall of women working in the construction sector and is backing the latest Women in Construction North West event. Tony McDonough reports

Women in Construction North West is holding its latest networking event in Liverpool this autumn with the backing of local construction firm Frank Rogers.

An afternoon of “networking, career conversations and community” is being promised at the event being held at The Academy Restaurant, City of Liverpool College on Thursday, October 15.

There are around 340,000 women working in the UK construction industry, making up just 15% of the workforce. Even worse, figures show just 2% of people working in on-site labour roles are women. This is crazy when UK construction is facing a chronic skills shortage.

Some building firms are more enlightened than others. Frank Rogers in Liverpool has led the way in looking to tackle the issue head on. It has committed to invest in talent in all areas of its fast-growing business, regardless of gender and is sponsoring this latest event.

Rachel Walker, head of marketing and communications at Frank Rogers, has been recognised for championing women in construction. She was a finalist in the Community Hero category of the Women in Construction Awards.

And she is also on the WIC North West committee, and along with fellow committee member Claire Fenton of Construction Resources, who is organising October’s event which offers afternoon tea, prosecco and networking.

Claire, like Rachel, is a passionate advocate for change in the industry. Alongside her role as managing director of Construction Resources, she owns ITG and has ambitious plans to help tackle the sector’s skills shortage through her own mobile learning centre, housed within a specially converted double-decker bus.

“Given the skills crisis in the UK construction sector you would hope firms would be keen to recruit people from all sections of the community,” said Claire. “But frustratingly the industry remains overwhelmingly male-dominated.”

Rachel added: “I’m proud to work for a company that takes the gender imbalance in construction seriously, but we need to keep this issue at the top of the agenda and events such as these are so important to that mission.”

This event is designed to bring together women from across construction, property and associated industries in a relaxed and welcoming environment and offers an opportunity to step away from the day-to-day, meet new people, share experiences and build genuine professional relationships with women from across the region.

The WIC community includes women working across contracting, consultancy, engineering, design, property, architecture, supply chain, trades, social value, marketing, operations, project management, leadership and many other areas of the built environment.

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Rachel added that students, apprentices, early-career professionals and women interested in starting a career within the sector are all encouraged to come along.

Tickets cost £10 for WIC North West members and £15 for non-members. Click here for more information or to book a place.