TWO women from Advance Construction are set to fly the flag for Scotland in Manchester this October at the final of the National Federation of Builders Top 100 Influential Women in Construction Awards.
Lynsey Breen, head of acquisitions at Advance Land Regeneration, a division of the Advance Construction Group, and Elivia Martin, a dumper truck driver with Advance Construction, have been short-listed for the Unsung Hero Category representing Scotland. They will be joining only one other nominee in the Scottish category – Aiden Walusiak, a building inspector for the National House Building Council.
Lynsey, from Dumbarton, has been with Advance for over five years and is responsible for managing AC Land Regeneration, a division which sources and remediates largely brownfield sites making them suitable for development.
She said, “This is a really positive initiative from the National Federation of Builders and demonstrates how the industry is slowly changing with far more females taking up posts in the sector. It’s a terrific business to be part of with so many different career opportunities and with construction companies actively reaching out to encourage young women to take up roles, it can only get better.”
Elivia Martin, from Bathgate, joined the company on the Government’s Kickstart Scheme in April this year. Aimed at helping people aged 16-24 on Universal Credit who were at risk of long-term unemployment, Elivia was facing an uncertain future after losing her job during the pandemic.
She said, “It was really tough during lockdown, I was stuck in the house all the time and had to borrow money from family and friends just to keep going. When this opportunity came along I jumped at it.
“I first started doing handy-man jobs when I was 14 and I realised I was good at it and started working in construction full-time at 18. Although I am the only woman on site it doesn’t bother me, everyone is really nice, and I definitely think that girls should think about construction as a career. There are so many different trades you can learn.”
Elivia’s next goal is to pass her driving test, so that she can drive trucks from site-to-site as she requires a full UK driving licence.
The final of the awards will take place on 27 October at the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel in Manchester.
