Ahead of International Women's Day on Wednesday, a Sales Director from Coalville-based David Wilson Homes East Midlands is encouraging more women to consider working in the construction industry.

Rachael Harrison – who originally began working for the housebuilder in 2005 as a Sales Adviser – achieved her goal of becoming a Sales Director in 2019 and has been thriving in her role ever since.

In an effort to inspire the next generation of female leaders, Rachael has highlighted her experience with diversity in what is stereotypically referred to as a male-dominated industry.

Rachael said: "As a woman, I feel particularly passionate about breaking the stigma and old age stereotypes attached to the construction sector.

"As part of my day to day role, I help to oversee a large team of Sales Managers and Advisers across the division, all while liaising with the site team to ensure our plans for sales line up with building deadlines.

"We are fortunate to have a diverse team on board throughout the construction, sales and planning sectors at David Wilson Homes, and I believe that this has played a key part in our success as a business.

"While discrimination and a lack of equality remain a prominent challenge within the construction industry, I'm grateful to work for a company which has taken great strides to overcome this issue, and I believe it is important for women who are already in positions of responsibility, like myself, to become role models to the next generation of female senior staff."

International Women's Day is taking place on Wednesday 8th March, and this year's campaign theme is #EmbraceEquity. Equity recognises that each person has different circumstances, and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that in quarter four of 2022, 2,171,000 people in the UK worked in construction. Out of those people, just 321,000, 14.7% were women.

Rachael believes it is very important to promote equality in the construction industry and has noticed a shift in diversity over the period of time she has worked for the developer.

She said: "I've been working at David Wilson Homes for almost two decades, and through my time at the company, I've seen more and more women exploring different career opportunities within construction.

"I believe this is partly down to the enhanced maternity policy and menopause resources available to staff at the company, which enables women to access support throughout different life stages, as well as continuing to build upon their career path.

"My advice to women who are considering a role within the industry is to just go for it! Be confident, believe in yourself, and you can achieve anything you set your mind to."

For more information about the career opportunities available at David Wilson Homes, visit www.barrattcareers.co.uk.

To found out more about local developments by David Wilson Homes, visit www.dwh.co.uk, or call the sales team on 033 3355 8483.