East Midlands Mayor helps more women build construction careers as industry seeks to plug major regional skills shortage

Pictured: East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward with Janet Smith, CEO and Principal of Nottingham College, Chair of Governors Carole Thorogood BEM , East Midlands Combined County Authority CEO Amy Harhoff, women from industry employers, and construction students from Nottingham College. 

Mayor of the East Midlands, Claire Ward, has launched a new drive to help attract more women into the region’s construction industry, which faces a shortfall of more than 17,000 people by 2028.

The Mayor highlighted the challenge ahead of International Women’ Day on Saturday 8 March, the annual celebration of the contribution women make to the world around us and a rallying cry for gender equality.

The launch was made at an event co-hosted by Nottingham College at the brand new £4.5m Construction Skills Centre at its Basford campus.

This year, International Women’s Day has a theme of ‘Accelerating Action’, and Mayor Claire says the need to bring more women into construction is an urgent example of where progress still needs to be made.

Alongside Nottingham College CEO and Principal Janet Smith, the Mayor welcomed female leaders from regional construction employers and senior women in education and skills. They saw first-hand the work being done at the college to bring more women into the construction industry and chatted to a group of female students.

Mayor Claire used the event to announce that the East Midlands Combined County Authority’s Careers Hub will fund Future Makers, a new initiative connecting young people with businesses, offering hands-on industry experience and guidance to help them explore career pathways.

She said: “Encouraging and enabling more women to aim high in life isn’t just the right thing to do, there’s clear evidence it’s vital to the future of our economy.

“The forecast skills shortage in construction will not be solved if it remains a male dominated environment. That isn’t just bad for gender equality, it risks holding back ambition and restricting our ability to build and grow.

“I’m therefore proud to announce our commitment to the Future Makers project so we can play an active role in breaking down barriers for young women entering construction, offering them the support, confidence, and connections they need to succeed in a traditionally male-dominated industry.

“It’s been inspiring to meet and talk with students here at Nottingham College, to see them in action and to understand their passion for progress. In construction and other industries, we need to open up opportunities and encourage women and girls to believe that anything is possible.”

Nottingham College CEO and Principal Janet Smith added: “The construction sector in the East Midlands is booming, to the point where we have almost struggled to keep up with demand for skills training.

“The new Construction Skills Centre at our Basford campus is part of the answer to this challenge. We have invested heavily in state-of-the-art facilities which combine hands-on skills development with fully digitised classrooms.

“While the numbers of women in the industry remains comparatively small, we’re seeing rising demand from female applicants for our courses, not just in traditional trades but in new areas of the industry where there is increasing momentum, such as photo-voltaics, heat pumps and other green skills.”