Katie Kelleher | Crossrail - Laing O'Rourke
After a life time of sales positions and more recently working as a Recruitment Consultant Katie Kelleher had a change of career and started a Lifting technician apprenticeship with Select/ Laing O'Rourke in October 2014.
The lifting technician apprenticeship provided her with training and tickets in Slinging, Traffic Marshalling, Pedestrian operate crane, crawler crane, tower crane, mobile crane and IPAF.
Following training in college and in Select plant hire's different yards Katie's first site based job was working at Tottenham Court Road Crossrail site where she has been based in a crawler crane since May 2015.
As well as working 5/6 days a week based on site she believes it is important to make women and school leavers aware of the opportunities within the construction industry and to be a positive roll model for change.
Within her short time working for Crossrail she has spoken with schools, taken part in the parliamentary sub committee into apprenticeships, been filmed for the BBC5 live 100 women series and London Live, Stylist magazine, the metro, construction news, won Crossrail infrastructure apprentice of the year 2016 and has recently been appointed as a board member for the Strategic Transport Apprenticeship Taskforce.
Fiona Barry | London Underground
I joined the Transport for London Project Management Graduate Scheme in September 2013 because I was keen to experience the challenges and opportunities of implementing the organisation's largest capital investment programme in over 80 years. Having studied project management during my undergraduate degree, I had gained a passion for this subject and was keen to undertake the vital role of project manager to ensure the delivery of quality improvements across the network to meet ever increasing demand.
Working as a Graduate Project Manager, my role involved working on a variety of different construction projects to gain experience of management from design through to handover. During the scheme, I was able to develop my competency by supporting the delivery of some of the organisation’s largest and most high profile projects. My first placement was on the Northern Line Extension, supporting the drafting of the Contract and managing the ground investigation works ahead of the delivery of two new underground stations which underpin the redevelopment of Vauxhall and Battersea.
During the following rotations, I was able to work on a variety of projects, from operational change programmes to the optimisation of design proposals for road improvements. On my final placement, I worked on Victoria Station Upgrade, contributing to the delivery of a new Northern ticket hall, enlargement of the existing Southern ticket hall and step free interchanges.
Since rolling off the scheme in 2015, I have worked on the £89m construction of a new Underground Station at Nine Elms. I am now acting Project Manager accountable for the delivery of several key work packages as well as managing the delivery of key work packages to corporate standards and programme requirements, in addition to supporting and assuring the main Design and Build works undertaken by the Principle Contractor, to deliver the new station.
Loretta Lipworth | Balfour Beatty
I am a new entrant to the construction industry and with over 10 years’ experience working in Design and Education, I aim to progress from my current Administrator role into Design Management.
Through my time working, living and travelling across the globe, I have gained a keen appreciation for the necessity of diversity and access to development pathways in the workplace. Furthermore, first-hand experience of the highs and lows of making a major career path change sparked an interest in how the construction industry attracts new talent, from school-leavers to those with many years of transferable skills and knowledge. These issues in particular inspired me through the process of co-founding and launching NAWIC NW (the National Association of Women in Construction for the North-West region) for which I currently volunteer as Treasurer and Deputy Chair alongside a committee of likeminded women.
To support my work with Balfour Beatty and NAWIC, I regularly undertake training and have also started studying on a CIOB Graduate Conversion Certificate course. This will provide me with a solid theoretical foundation of knowledge on a range of aspects in Construction Management and assist in eventual application for chartered membership to CIOB. In addition, I am a mentee on the brilliant Fluid Diversity Mentoring scheme, and aspire to assist others as a mentor in the coming years. Continual learning and development for myself and encouraging those around me is always key in whatever I do.
In my personal life, I enjoy all things design, architecture and music related. For fitness and relaxation I practise yoga and mindfulness techniques, as well as karate, for which I have competed regionally. I aim to travel and experience diverse cultures to better understand the world around me.
Sharon Slinger | Carillion plc
I am a Chartered Quantity Surveyor who has worked on many high profile projects in both Yorkshire and Australia. I am currently Sector Commercial Lead within the growing Carillion Services Projects division. I founded and am now Global Co-Chair of the Carillion LGBT support network – Connect, and am Chair of Directors of a social enterprise called STEER, which provides mentors for built environment students.
My career started by gaining industry sponsorship for my Quantity Surveying degree, winning a final year prize, then completing my Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). I have delivered a number of high value, high profile projects, commercially leading these at an early stage of my career, and being successful on every project I have been involved with. This was recognised on the HSBC data centre project by the client awarding me the “outstanding contribution to the project” award. I moved to Australia with Bovis Lend Lease to work at their head office for two years, which broadened my experiences both within my career and personally. The success within my roles has meant selection for a number of leadership programmes which have given me the self-knowledge to propel my career further. I have always been keen on bringing less experienced people on with their careers. I am a STEM Ambassador, and have mentored university students, and junior members of Women in Property. I have recruited and trained a number of graduates and acted as supervisor and counsellor for the RICS APC, most recently through being part of the Carillion Commercial Entry Level Talent steering group. Last year I helped form an industry social enterprise, STEER, to provide mentors on a larger scale to local university students, of which I am the Chair of Directors.
Vicci Jarvis | Interserve Developments
I am an only child, encouraged and supported to be independent and to challenge. I attended an all-girls school and achieved 11 GCSE, and Politics and Sports Studies A-Level, after leaving school I went straight into employment, beginning my career as an Accounts Assistant working my way up to Assistant Accountant. In 2006 (aged 25) I secured an Asset Manager role within Interserve, where I have worked for over 10 years. I decided to further my formal education to support my career development and I am currently working towards a BSc in Estate Management, having taken a short break when I had my children. Working towards this qualification, alongside my volunteering and Ambassador roles has enabled me to build a large network of contacts within my own organisation and also externally (across multiple sectors). This enables me to think ‘outside of the box’ and to support other female colleagues to strive for success.
A self-starting individual, I’ve always pushed the boundaries, I’m a mum, step-mum, partner, career woman, Charity Ambassador, Trustee and volunteer PR manager who is passionate about equality. I am also an active member of my local churches PCC (parochial church council). I enjoy working with others to make big things happen from organising large corporate community days for local charities (600+ volunteer days) to Charity Balls. I always encourage others to strive to make a difference.
Throughout my career I’ve looked for (and found) innovative new ways of working, I pride myself on my ability to streamline processes and systems to improve business operations e.g. redesigning folder structures to maximise productivity, reducing unnecessary work when searching for information on a system that was fragmented and unintuitive, and implementing collaborative working platforms.
I was recently promoted to Information Security Manager within Interserve and have relished this new challenge.