Women interested in a career in site management visited our Holly Fields development in Erdington this week to experience a morning on site and gain valuable advice on starting a leadership position in the homebuilding industry.

The event - hosted on Monday 6 February - forms part of the Women into Home Building Employment Programme, a  joint initiative between Women into Construction, the Home Builders Federation (HBF) and nine major home builders. The uniquely funded programme looks to help address the gender imbalance in the construction workforce, which currently sees just 16% female representation.

We are one of nine home builders registered as a partner of the scheme, working together to offer a funded training and support with childcare to enable more applicants to pursue a career in site management.

Paul Curry, Head of Training, said: "We were delighted to welcome prospective participants to Holly Fields as part of the Women into Home Building employment programme. All industries thrive when they are diverse, so we’re particularly proud to be a part of this initiative which provides support to underrepresented groups in the sector.

“Particularly timely during National Apprenticeship Week, we hope that the candidates got a lot out of the morning and wish them all the best with their applications.”

Jacqui Wordsworth, Business Development Director, said:

“With women representing just 4% of Site Managers, we want to inspire and encourage more women to take up a career in home building. We are grateful to Persimmon Homes and our other programme partners for all of their support with this exciting programme.”

Jenny Herdman, Director for HBF’s Home Building Skills Partnership said: “We’re determined to increase the representation of women in leadership positions within homebuilding, so are thrilled to see the programme come to life and provide a platform for women to explore a new career. This week’s visits at the Persimmon development and other partner sites will provide participants with valuable first-hand experience that’ll set them up for the rest of the programme.”