Excellence in Senior Leadership
This is a category aimed at leadership teams from engineering or construction firms who champion a more equal, diverse and inclusive workplace and use their positions to inspire and engage their workforce and improve outcomes for customers and their business. Whether it is promotion of women into senior positions or fostering inclusive leadership, this award seeks to recognise executive teams, management boards or senior leadership that champion women at all levels.
Arcadis
Leadership demonstrating visible role-modelling is fundamental in embedding inclusive and equitable cultures. This includes leaders actively facilitating DEIB conversations both across their teams and with our clients. Across the UK our leaders are ensuring that DEIB messages are proactively amplified through promoting initiatives, prioritising DEIB on strategic agendas, advocating for team involvement in our Affinity Groups and communities and taking part in events, panels and webinars themselves. Across our UK Business Areas, leaders are supporting greater recruitment and promotion process transparency, proactively managing talent mapping, and investing time in development plans, coaching & sponsorship.
Hive Projects
Hive Projects proudly champions gender equality, founded by two industry professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. With a 'people-first' approach, we've cultivated a culture of inclusivity and diversity at every level. Our 50/50 director gender split, and senior leadership team reflect our commitment to breaking barriers. We maintain a zero gender pay gap, ensuring fair compensation for all. Our directors, having experienced pay disparity first-hand, prioritised transparency in our pay structure. We provide mentorship and opportunities to support women into leadership roles and offer inclusive working conditions. Beyond our walls, we drive positive change through charity and partnership initiatives, ensuring diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) are at the forefront. At Hive Projects, diversity isn't just accepted; it's celebrated.
Useful Simple Trust
UST's journey to becoming an EBT has been a catalyst for diversity and inclusion, transforming our leadership landscape and industry impact. Since our inception in 2007, we've championed diversity, reflected in our evolution from an all-male Founding Board to a leadership team where women hold 50% of Executive Board seats. Under the visionary leadership of Judith Sykes, our first female CEO, UST has flourished. Judith's advocacy for women in construction was celebrated at our 2023 Women in Leadership event, where she highlighted the importance of allyship in fostering diversity beyond our walls. Our dedication to succession and diversity by decoupling leadership from ownership ensures a fair and inclusive environment for all. This ethos has not only garnered industry recognition but also resulted in exceptional employee satisfaction, enriched our practice and inspired future generations.
Willmott Dixon
Diversity steering group
Willmott Dixon’s (WD) Diversity Steering Group (DSG) has positioned the company as an industry leader on gender inclusion, championing, and empowering women in construction at every turn. In support of the main board’s commitment to reach gender parity by 2030, the DSG has tackled gender representation head-on since 2017. Still in 2023, women make up just 14% of people working in construction and engineering industry. But WD has delivered a step-change in female representation across our business, with women making up 15% of senior construction roles, 32% of the total workforce, 40% of the main board, 40% of all new hires and 53% of new management trainees at the end of 2023. Through initiatives like WD’s Women’s Leadership Programme, the company helps female employees develop their careers, with over half of the participants to date already promoted or progressing from their roles.