Women in Property has announced its new Yorkshire and North East Chairman. Lindsay Ramsden will lead the Leeds-based branch of the national property and construction industry lobbying and networking organisation from 1st March 2019, for one year.
Lindsay Ramsden, a town planner with Avant Homes has been a member of Women in Property for five years and is committed to its ethos of support and encouragement, not only for peers in the workplace but for girls and young women considering a career in the property and construction industry. This is particularly important given the skills shortage across the industry.
Lindsay said: “Over the coming year, as an organisation, we will be focusing our attention on the skills shortage that is already evident and which will be exacerbated in a post-Brexit Britain. This means getting into schools to talk about how great it is working in this industry, the variety and the opportunities out there. Inspiring children at a young age is particularly important.
“The industry must also retain women already working in the built environment sector, who might be struggling with anything from a lack of flexibility in their working hours, through to needing advice on being more ‘visible’, for their own career development. We can’t afford to lose these skilled women at a time when the country really needs them.”
Colin Lewis, chief executive officer of Avant Homes, said: “We are delighted to give our support to Lindsay in this new role. Avant Homes recognises the challenges faced by women in the property sector and wholeheartedly supports the work of Women in Property and all that it seeks to achieve in increasing awareness, knowledge and change for women working across all aspects of the property sector.”
Women in Property adopts a 360-degree approach, across the pre- and whole career spectrum focusing on school visits, careers fairs and talks, together with the National Student Awards for built environment undergraduates. Members can benefit from the organisation’s well-respected cross-discipline mentoring programme and attend a wide range of professional development events, including training for panel and conference debates, workshops and site visits to new schemes. Recent events in Yorkshire have included Visible Women’s lunches where senior women in the industry share their career experiences, breakfast CPD seminars and cocktail masterclasses for informal networking.
