Lauren Holland | Murphy Surveys
I am a 25 year old proud and committed member of the surveying profession helping to inspire the next generation, and support the growth of females joining the industry.
I grew up in North London and went as far away from the city as I could to Aberystywth University where I studied and graduated in Geography. Drawing 3D models and being outdoors are things I loved to do and my careers adviser recommended to try out surveying as you get to do both.
I did some work experience and fell in love with the industry and my passion has grown throughout the years. As a surveyor I provide geospatial certainty and everything I do has an impact on the future of London and public safety.
My Murphy Surveys journey started in 2015, Murphy's is a multidisciplinary company which allowed me to explore all types of specialities. This involved gaining experience in; laser scanning, utility surveys, topographical surveys, site services, area plans and drawing 3D models.
After taking a year out to travel the world, when I came back to Murphy Surveys I decided to specialise in monitoring services which involves being on construction sites most days. In the 3 years I have been working I have progressed from assistant to junior and now am a surveyor, with the responsibility of measuring and processing my own jobs.
Ever seen the instruments on the street that look like cameras with lasers? That is called a total station and is the piece of equipment I use on a daily basis. I have started to attend networking events to spread the awareness of the surveying industry and express how important it is to every day life. Also, I recently found a passion for helping and educating the next generation about the surveying industry and have already attended a few school visits and became a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) ambassador and joined the ''Get Kids Into Survey'' campaign. I am excited for what the future of women in this industry will be and can't wait to be a part of it!
Stephanie Bishop | CBRE
Having graduated from Nottingham Trent University in 2013 with a degree in Real Estate, a course which included a placement year with AXA REIM, I joined the commercial real estate firm CBRE on the graduate scheme.
Following rotation through a number of disciplines, I qualified as a charted surveyor in April 2015 and joined the Industrial Occupier team as one of three UK founder team members.
We have now grown to a team of nine people and I have been at the forefront of its evolution in to a market leading offer, responsible for representing occupiers for in excess of 28% of total floor area Industrial take-up in 2018. This includes advising the occupier responsible for the largest proportion of UK take-up by floor area in two of the last three years.
Ninarita Williams | Transport for London
After having graduated with a 1st Class Honours in Politics and International Relations, in 2013 Rita triumphed out of thousands of applicants to attain a place on the TfL Project Management Graduate Scheme.
The scheme enabled Rita to develop her competency through a series of six-month placements in different areas of the business, allowing her to gain experience in all stages of the construction project lifecycle. She excelled in taking on real responsibility from early on in the scheme, and managed a variety of high-profile and politically-sensitive projects. Projects included: Ruislip Depot area refurbishment and Lillie Bridge asset relocation to facilitate the £1bn Earl’s Court Development; commercial retail developments; critical repair of Stamford Brook Bridge to extend the lifespan of the bridge and track by 20+years; Prudential Ride London; enabling the British leg of the Tour de France; train testing & commissioning facilities; and other award-winning projects to bring better cooling and ventilation to hotspot stations on the Jubilee, Bakerloo and Victoria line. During her time on the graduate scheme she was awarded a prestigious secondment to Hong Kong MTR to engage in “best practice” knowledge exchange concerning persistent construction issues in rail.
Rita is currently a Project Manager leading multi-million pound construction projects on the £5.4bn Four Lines Modernisation Programme. With a heavy focus on civils, mechanical and electrical works, Rita is project managing the construction of complex signalling equipment buildings in logistically challenged spaces in Hammersmith and Uxbridge. The Four Lines Modernisation programme is set to increase the capacity of the subsurface network by approx 33%, provide faster and more frequent journeys, increase service reliability, as well as improve the customer experience on the network. It is the largest signalling project in the world, bringing much needed improvements to London’s public transport infrastructure.
For her efforts, last year Rita was shortlisted as a finalist for Young Rail Professional of the Year 2018, and recently won a coveted position as a judge for the National Rail Awards 2019. She is an avid mentor and member of the TfL BAME and Women’s Staff Network groups, as well as the TfL & Siemens Girls Careers Network. She coaches and engages other young women into construction and STEM related roles.
Rita recently graduated with a Distinction in MSc Project Management. In an effort to gain more insight into common construction industry issues, she undertook a study that focused on the role of hidden barriers women face in attaining leadership positions in construction. Her work has recently been published.
Ann-Marie Fallon | Architype
Ann-Marie is an Associate Architect and Certified Passivhaus Designer at Architype.
She is part of the first batch of Certified EU Passivhaus Designers in the UK in 2009. She moved to the UK in 2012. Having gained significant Passivhaus experience in Ireland, Ann-Marie is lead delivery architect for the next phase in the UK’s largest Passivhaus development Agar Grove, currently under construction.
She also has also extensive experience in the delivery of the Passivhaus EnerPHit standard in the residential context, and is Associate Architect on the first Passivhaus through-school in Machynlleth Wales. She actively participates in practice led research and development within Architype across other projects and has been a speaker at several national and international conferences and construction industry events
Ann-Marie is a part-time teaching fellow at the University of Bath since 2014. She is also visiting external examiner for Architectural Technology and for the Part 3 Architecture Examination in the Dublin School of Architecture and has a Masters in Environmental Design of Buildings from Cardiff University.
Frankie Isherwood | CBRE
I graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a masters in Real Estate in 2015 and went on to join the CBRE graduate scheme where I spent my first year in the Capital Markets team.
I then spent six months in Development Consultancy and six months in Lease Consultancy before sitting my APC.
I returned to the Capital Markets team on gaining RICS status in October 2017 and since then my role has involved providing advice on commercial property acquisitions & sales, development funding transactions and JV structuring mandates. In 2018 I was involved in a number of high-profile transactions including the Bruntwood SciTech Portfolio JV (£360m) and Aviva's funding of Enterprise City in Manchester (£300m) both of which were advised over a period of in excess of 12 months and provided excellent learning experiences.
In addition to my day-to-day role, I have acted as 'Charity Champion' for CBRE Manchester organising and taking part in numerous events including the Three Peaks challenge and the Great North Swim. I have attended careers fairs, acted as a mentor at Manchester Enterprise Academy and provided seminars at University of Manchester to promote the property industry as well as CBRE.
Michelle Hicks | Merlin Entertainments
I studied for my MEng in Civil Engineering at the University of Surrey where I was awarded a Surrey/ICE scholarship and sponsored by WSP for the duration of my degree.
During my year in industry I had the opportunity to work on the £1bn redevelopment of London Bridge Station which inspired my dissertation on the assessment of the quadripartite vaults in the undercroft of the station. I graduated in 2014 with the highest results on record and was invited to join the Civil Engineering Industrial Advisory Board at the university. Since graduating I have continued my research into the assessment of historic quadripartite vaults and my work has been published in the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Institution of Structural Engineers' magazine The Structural Engineer.
I joined WSP when I graduated and was awarded the NCE Graduate of the Year and ACE Consultant of the Future awards in 2015. My interest in coordinating all aspects of a project led me into Project Management and in 2016 I followed my passion for the themed entertainment industry and joined Merlin Entertainments as the Project Manager for Chessington World of Adventures Resort. In this role I am responsible for leading the design and construction teams to deliver multi-million pound theme park attractions. The projects I have successfully delivered to date include The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure, Land of the Tiger and Room on the Broom – A Magical Journey.
Helen Heward | Planning House
After studying Geography at University I quickly realised that it was human activity that interested me most so I embarked on finding a career where I could look to minimise the impact of human activity on the natural environment.
After a lecture someone came to give a presentation about opportunities in town planning and I could see that the profession was exactly what I was looking for so I continued to study for my masters in Town Planning.
After 13 years in Local Authority planning departments in the north-east across planning policy, enforcement and predominantly development management I left in December 2018 to work for a small independent planning consultancy and I absolutely love it! The role allows me to work closely with clients and take a creative approach to maximise development potential whilst working well with Local Authority planners, as I am aware of the systems and constraints which they work within. The job comes with pressures however I enjoy the daily challenges and have thrived in an environment where building relationships with people is genuinely important and valued. I feel incredibly lucky that Planning House have taken a very flexible approach to the working week to allow me to continue with a career I love while being at home with my young family.
Planning House has also provided me with an opportunity to work on another of my passions, which is gender equality within the planning industry. Following my move from Local Authority I was given the time and support to launch a branch of the Women in Planning network for the north east and the interest has been phenomenal which to me clearly demonstrates a need.
Pamilla Sidhu | PwC
Coming from a working class and part-time carer background, Pam had little connection to accountancy.
After securing and completing 4 prestigious internships across one summer, Pam joined PwC in 2016 and passed all 15 chartered accountancy exams first time. She became one of the highest ranked graduates in her cohort nationally, developing a strong specialism in internal audit. Pam’s unique work experience across journalism and accounting allows her to explain complex, technical items in a readable way to senior executives.
Recently, she led a set of internal audit reviews at several major universities around the submission of their data to the regulator. This is a high profile area for universities, which can garner significant negative press attention if universities are found to submit misleading information to league tables. Pam’s reviews raised several significant findings for board audit committees. In one instance, due to the nature and severity of findings she raised, she was asked to perform a follow-up review in the next academic year to provide assurance to the board around progress made. Pam’s reviews provided a platform to bring these issues to the agenda of many university boards, and became a junior subject matter expert at PwC in this niche.
There was no diversity and inclusion network when Pam joined PwC in Manchester. To solve this, she co-founded and chaired the ‘Cultural Difference’ network to attract and retain diverse staff, organising high profile events and the PwC Diversity Mentoring Scheme for university students.
Pam has consistently worked hard to facilitate diversity and inclusion. From the age of 14 she began working for Voice 21 Magazine - written by students from under-privileged or under-represented backgrounds, with a readership of around 10,000 young people. Pam was the editor for 2 years - interviewing celebrities, liaising with PR firms to successfully grow the brand, and mentoring junior staff, before going on to write for Channel 4, The Guardian and The Independent.
Pam was recently approached by the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAEW) to be one of their ‘diversity champions’, applying knowledge gained from her experience. She spoke at their 2019 Executive Board meeting and is currently working with them to attract and support students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Nadia Mensah | PwC
Nadia is a Senior Associate at PwC. Alongside her day job, Nadia helps run PwC’s Diversity Mentoring Scheme and is Co-Chair of PwC’s Multicultural Business Network.
At 18 years old, Nadia started her first corporate job in the city through an organisation called The Brokerage Citylink before going to study an Economics and Finance degree at the University of Southampton. It was this experience that opened Nadia’s eyes to the corporate world and led to her getting a role in PwC where she now works as a Senior Associate in Assurance Transformation.
In her spare time, Nadia is heavily involved in her church, Kharis Church and also spends time mentoring and providing career support through helping with applications, personal statements, interview advice etc. to people/organisations who reach out to her through her organisation, NadiaAbena.
Nadia has a strong passion for diversity and equal access in the workplace, social mobility and giving back to local communities. Nadia enjoys presenting at local schools and helping with career workshops.
Nadia was recently listed as one of Future of Ghana’s Top 30 under 30 Pioneers for 2019 and is a nominee for an Empower Ethnic Minority Future Leader award.
Liz Williams | Moorhouse
I am currently a Manager at Moorhouse; a dynamic consulting firm, focused on delivering change and helping clients succeed in their long-term goals.
Over the last eight years I have been lucky enough to have a varied and exciting consulting career, working with a wide range of clients from investment banks to public sector organisations. Whether implementing new regulatory processes, leading global operating model transformation or analysing customer journeys, I have always been fascinated by people and their needs.
As my career has progressed, this fascination has extended to the needs of those around me. Specifically understanding how we can support people to be their ‘best-self’ inside and outside of the workplace – a question which is increasingly important as the world we operate in is becoming more uncertain, complex and ambiguous!
Exploring this question has taken me on an exciting journey, learning more about the world of mental health and wellbeing. Within the first 6 months, I created a mental health framework, trained as a Mental Health First Aider and set up a small team to raise awareness. I was amazed by the interest in this topic and the number of people who wanted to share their own experiences.
Two years on, as well as continuing my job as a consultant and manager, I now lead our Moorhouse Health and Wellbeing Team, which is one of the core pillars of our business and tasked with empowering, equipping and enabling our people to be healthy and happy. Some of my proudest achievements to date include:
- Seeing the cultural impact of a firm wide Health and Wellbeing event
- Being awarded “Second Healthiest New Entrant” and overall “Third Healthiest Workplace” within the Small company category in the 2018 Vitality Britain’s Healthiest Workplace survey
- Being invited to talk about Health and Wellbeing on the Chris Evans Virgin Radio Breakfast Show
- Seeing our people live and breath healthy behaviours and supporting one another
I’m looking forward to continuing on this health and wellbeing journey and inspiring others to make impactful changes!