As GCSE results land, the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) Northern Ireland's message for students is clear: consider taking up a career in construction, no matter who you are there is a place for you.
It comes as new research by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) found around three in ten Northern Ireland adults say seeing more women in construction would make them more likely to encourage their child into the industry, the highest of anywhere in the UK
FMB member Breige Collins trained as a nurse and began helping with the paperwork on her days off when her husband set up on his own after the recession closed the construction company he managed in 2011.
Fourteen years on, that side job is Marlfield Joinery & Construction in Portaferry, a bespoke residential building company with its own in-house cabinetry workshop, and Breige is its Office Manager, running client communication, supplier accounts and project management. She now spends one morning a week nursing and the rest of it in construction. She said:
"Professionally, construction let me completely change career path. Personally, it gave me the flexibility to balance work and childcare as our family grew. It has been a breath of fresh air to see more and more women entering the sector, and we're proud to have trained two female joiner apprentices in our own company. As a mother of five who have grown up watching how a construction company works, it's been rewarding to see some of our daughters take a keen interest in the skilled work happening on site. My advice to anyone considering construction is simple: if you have an interest in any part of it — a skilled trade, manufacturing, traditional building methods, design, surveying, accounts, health and safety — explore it. There is a place for you."
Award winning FMB member Jemma Catterson took a different route to the same conclusion. She started in a health, safety, environmental and quality role at Lowry Building & Civil Engineering in Castlederg and is now a Business Development Manager, helping decide which projects the firm takes on. She added:
"Construction offers so many opportunities, and it matters that more women and girls see themselves in that future," she said. "At Lowry we have women in engineering, quantity surveying, marketing, site management, safety and accounting — all central to the success of the business. There may still be a perception that this isn't an industry for women. That's changing."
Gavin McGuire, FMB Northern Ireland Director, concluded:
"Northern Ireland's small building firms need the next generation, and the public here have told us exactly what would win them over — seeing women doing these jobs. Breige and Jemma are two of many. Whether you're strongest at maths, design, IT or working with your hands, there's a job on site or in the office behind it that fits, and your local college or a local FMB member is the place to start."
