Women’s Network of the Year

This category is open to all women’s networks that champion women and gender diversity within the sector or their organisation. The network might be a cross-industry group or is maybe a company-wide one developed by contractors, clients, consultants and suppliers working in the construction and engineering industry. The awards celebrates the employee teams that strive to ensure that the views of women are highlighted and drive change within their organisation or industry.

Arcadis
Women of Colour Network

Our intersectional Women of Colour network demonstrates our recognition that the women of colour within our business experience significant levels of bias and challenge. Through the Women of Colour programme we've heard first-hand about how these experiences continue to affect Arcadians from within the community. As a result, we've created a series of forums to continue to work to improve the experiences of women of colour within Arcadis and create a safe space network

Balfour Beatty
Gender and Allies Affinity Network

Balfour Beatty’s Gender Affinity Network aims to increase representation of women in construction, inspiring women to grow their careers in an environment were all feel confident, valued and included. During 2023 they focussed on:
• bringing members together at a highly successful in-person network event. Louise Hardy (Balfour Beatty, non-executive director) shared her inspiring career story, followed by a frank panel discussion on gender equality in the industry
• in response to members’ feedback, the network drove action to improve the provision of personal welfare facilities on sites as being able to meet basic needs is a pre-requisite for inclusion.
They established a working group, gathered data to identify issues, garnered senior leader support and partnered with the Site Mobilisation and Procurement teams to change processes. The results included sanitary bins being provided as standard in all toilets (female, male and non-gendered). - first UK construction company to do this.

Mott MacDonald
Women in Nuclear

Our team, within our 400-member Nuclear Division, have founded the Mott MacDonald Women in Nuclear (MMWiN) initiative to deliver a programme of activities to attract and retain women, and improve the representation of women in senior and leadership roles within nuclear. MMWiN has created marketing materials for nuclear industry events focussed on flexible working, encouraging women to apply who may have been previously discouraged due to inflexible working arrangements. In 2023 we launched our mentoring programme, with 30 initial mentor-mentee matches to provide mentees with career development advice, knowledge and insights. We have highlighted the importance of reverse mentoring, meaning that our senior staff are receiving regular information around facilitating opportunities and growth for women. We have introduced two European ambassadors to the team to ensure our efforts are geographically inclusive. MMWiN has created a community and engage with University students to highlight industry opportunities.

Raise the Roof

Raise the Roof is an off shoot from the former Women in Roofing organisation A small organisation, run without public funding, by volunteers, set up to promote opportunities for all in the roofing industry Over 10 years, women in roofing built a network of like minded individuals and hosted 5 very successful conferences When the first Women in Roofing events took place, there were relatively few women in truly prominent industry positions, Post covid, following many people reaching out to us, we decided to form a new group to educate, inspire and support within the sector A small focus group of individuals was formed to set up this new initiative and ensure that we were creating something that would add value and be meaningful for the industry and people within it. Raise the Roof was born and is growing at a very rapid rate. 

Scottish Power
Connected Women

SP Connected Women is a vibrant employee run network for ScottishPower's women from all areas of the UK business. Through our 'A Day in the Life' and 'Diverse Discussions' series we enable an open forum to share ideas, experiences and facilitate discussions. Following our first yearly conference we launched our Connected Women Allies Group with great interest, committed to providing educational material and future reverse mentoring initiatives. We influence to bring positive and lasting change within ScottishPower including the Family Policy where our feedback helped to increase maternity allowances encouraging talented women to stay within the business. We are working on benchmarking paternity and flexible working allowances to ensure SPR is a competitive inclusive employer. The committee run a Me…no-pause group, and use external resources for menopause education for managers and menopausal women with the aim to achieving a menopause friendly accreditation in 2025. 

Multiplex
UK Women's Network

The UK Women's Network (UKWN) deserves the Women's Network of the Year award for its pioneering initiatives in the construction industry. Notably, it launched a groundbreaking podcast featuring diverse voices and rolled out a comprehensive sexual harassment course to empower employees. Surveys have informed targeted actions on career progression and discrimination, while events like International Women's Day promote awareness of gender biases. The network's commitment extends to engaging male allies and collaborating with other industry networks for broader impact. By fostering inclusivity and driving transformative change, the UKWN serves as a model for gender equality in the workplace, making it a deserving recipient of this prestigious award.

Willmott Dixon
Senior Women’s Network

The Senior Women’s Network at Willmott Dixon has been pivotal in driving gender diversity and inclusivity within the organization and the construction industry at large. Recognising the imperative for gender balance, it has spearheaded initiatives that have significantly increased female representation in leadership positions. Through collaborations with Cranfield University and mentorship programmes, the network has empowered women to navigate their career paths effectively, resulting in notable promotions and retention rates. Moreover, the network's efforts have led to tangible changes within Willmott Dixon, with every board now boasting female directors and a significant increase in overall female representation. It helped pave the way for Willmott Dixon's recognition as the UK's best workplace and continues to be one of the driving forces to advance gender diversity and foster an inclusive environment at Willmott Dixon.