With the aim of persuading more girls to consider careers in the building industry the Girls in Construction open day was held at Magenta’s building services depot in Birkenhead

Wirral school and college students were given an insight into the career opportunities available in building maintenance and construction at a special event organised by housing provider Magenta Living.

With the aim of persuading more girls to consider careers in the building industry the Girls in Construction open day was held at Magenta’s building services depot in Birkenhead, home to the housing provider’s team of more than 150 skilled building services technicians.

The team provides a broad range of specialist services to Magenta Living customers, across the 13,000 properties the organisation currently owns and manages in Wirral and throughout the North West.   

Diverse paths

Female students were invited to see the team in action, with a series of practical demonstrations and talks put on to increase awareness of the diverse career paths available to them across the building maintenance and construction industry.

Plumbing, joinery,  plastering and decorating were all showcased, and students heard from Magenta Living painter Cathy Jackson who shared her own personal development story, having originally joined the organisation 10 years ago as an apprentice.

The event was opened by Michelle Plimley, Magenta Living head of voids and allocations, who explained her role in the organisation, along with head of business development for building services, Mike Cliff.

Depot tour

Students were able to take a tour around the depot, which included a session with Leona Roper, assistant branch manager for Travis Perkins Managed Services, who explained what her role is and how her company manages Magenta Living’s repair and maintenance supplies.

Magenta Living also invited three of its IT high-fliers to talk to the young women attending the open day, to help illustrate that building and construction also encompasses a wide variety of business support roles.

The event was designed in conjunction with Wirral Metropolitan College, a further and higher education college offering courses and diploma qualifications from entry level to degree. Students from Wirral Metropolitan College joined year 9 to 11 pupils from Birkenhead Park School and Bebington High at the event.

Female talent

Joanne Francom, director of HR and organisational development at Magenta Living, said: “It was fantastic to engage with young women from our local schools and colleges through this event and, hopefully, to open their eyes to the exciting variety of careers available within the building maintenance and construction industry.

“The housing sector relies heavily on skilled tradespeople and we need to tap into female talent to help ensure we have the right skills in place going forward.”