Clearview National February 2020 - Issue 219 | Page 26

WOMENININDUSTRY I am not invisible Reynaers’ new Marketing Director talks to Clearview exclusively, about working in a ‘boys club’, gender equality, UK versus the rest of the world, and how inspiring just one woman to think differently about operating in a very male dominated world, will make all the blood, sweat and tears worth it… What is your full name and current company/position please? Tina Hughan, Marketing Director for Reynaers Aluminium Ltd. What are your main roles/ responsibilities? My main responsibilities are the development and implementation of marketing strategy for Reynaers UK. I’ve been Marketing Director at Reynaers for the past six months and it is proving to be an extremely broad role offering an abundance of variety. Not only am I responsible for managing the deployment of a diverse range of online and offline marketing activities, I am also responsible for product management and internal communications. What is your history in terms of career/education and how did it lead to this current role? I consider myself fortunate at the beginning of my career. My first job was at Babcock where I had the opportunity to explore a variety of job roles and initially decided on a career path in HR. It wasn’t until my next role 26 » F EB 2020 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M at British Airports Authority that I made the switch to marketing as an assistant and have continued to work my way up through the ranks since. I have progressed through my career developing skills in both business to business and business to consumer marketing strategy on a UK and global basis. I always make a conscious effort to keep up to date with the latest industry trends and to make sure that I am continually learning. I completed an economics A level at Open Learning (in just six months, whilst on maternity leave), an HND in business and finance, a diploma in marketing (Dip.M) and a master’s (MA) in marketing – alongside raising two children and working full-time. To maintain my Chartered Marketer status, I ensure I complete the required Continuous Professional Development hours on an annual basis. I feel privileged to have gained experience with some prolific and diverse businesses such as Next, Securicor, BOC Group, Daily Mail Group, and ASSA ABLOY and I am very proud to have achieved one of my career ambitions, which was obtaining a senior role in marketing. What do you think are the main challenges that face modern professional women in general? Despite some progress being made there is still a huge way to go for women to be considered equally qualified and as skilled as men to fulfil particular roles. In some organisations there remains an old-fashioned stereotype that women are a support resource. As a modern professional woman, I am not invisible. I would like respect from my peers regardless of their sex because I have worked very hard to gain the qualifications and experience I have as a marketing professional. What do you think are the main challenges that face women in fenestration? I have worked in the building products industry for the past 15 years and it is predominantly dominated by men. Why? I believe that fenestration is not seen as a glamorous career choice and I believe more could be done at education level to demonstrate the opportunities available to women (and men) within this industry.