Investing in women

Posted 25.04.2016

Tripod Crest is keen to encourage more women to choose a career in the construction sector and Clair Burden, Sophie Norville and Georgie Hodgson are just three examples of where female employees are prospering in the world of road surfacing.

Clair Burden joined Tripod Crest in 2013 as contracts administrator, based at Highbridge, having previously been with Tarmac in customer services. She is a natural people person with very strong client liaison skills and also has a great rapport with the operatives. Since September 2014 she has been training as a site supervisor and is due to complete this in September 2016. All through she has demonstrated the ability to deliver the workload in the South region while managing the planing crews and also maintaining and developing excellent client relationships. Clair explains that she came to Tripod Crest because she was: “keen to stay in the industry but wanted to get more operational experience. Road surfacing is a great business!”

Sophie Norville already had great a reputation for business development before she joined Tripod Crest earlier this year, having worked in a number of related fields. Her track record continues to gain momentum and she is now a trainee estimator. Sophie comments that: “I love the satisfaction of knowing that a customer has had expectations exceeded and that we have delivered a service that is much better than our competitors.”

After joining Tripod Crest through the Starting Off Apprenticeship Agency in 2014, Georgie Hodgson is progressing quickly. She has achieved a Level 2 NVQ in sales and is currently doing an HNC in Civil Engineering on day release. Now working as a trainee surfacing estimator with F&T Goodwin, Georgie says: “I love the buzz from pricing jobs well and then getting the client’s go ahead! Now I want to keep developing and learning new skills. I am really appreciative of the investment from the company into my career.”

Managing director Darren Stokes has been seriously impressed with the work ethic and commitment that all three have shown: “Clair, Sophie and Georgie are all highly valued members of the team. They have a passion for the sector and an understanding of our world which means they are held in high regard by colleagues and customers alike.”