Clearview National March 2019 - Issue 208 | Page 24

INDUSTRYNEWS
Fenestration’s
a good fit for
women, so
where are they?
VEKA Group’s Marketing Director
Dawn Stockell talks to Clearview
about her experience and why she
feels there should be more diversity
in manufacturing and fenestration.
» » WHEN I WAS ASKED TO
give my opinion on being a woman
in industry and the challenges
women face, I felt that perhaps
I wasn’t the best person to
comment; I honestly didn’t face any
issues getting into the fenestration
industry at board level (and the
consumer electronics sector
before that). Even coming from
a different industry, I received a
very warm welcome to VEKA
Group over two years ago, and
I have experienced nothing
but professionalism from my
colleagues there since.
VEKA Group is an absolute
meritocracy, where the best
person will be selected for the
right job, whatever the applicant’s
age, sex, ethnicity or background,
so I know that I wasn’t hired
because I’m a woman (or ‘despite’
being a woman). I secured the
role because I had all the relevant
knowledge and experience to help
take the brands of VEKA Group
forward.
VEKA Group is a leading
Lancashire manufacturer,
employing around 400 people
from the local area. The company
was twice crowned ‘Employer of
the Year’ at awards ceremonies
last year and has an ethos of
complete fairness, transparency
and equality.
VEKA’s gender pay gap is just
1.61% compared to the national
average of 17.9% and I’m proud
to say that VEKA has a good
representation of women in
senior positions.
However, even with completely
gender-neutral recruitment
messages, the majority of roles we
advertise (especially on the shop
floor) attract a disproportionately
high number of men compared to
women.
Throughout my career up
to this point - in marketing,
product management and NPD
- I have never felt that being
female inhibited me in any way.
To my knowledge, I’ve never been
hindered or passed over because
of it. And yet, I find myself the
only woman on the Board of
Directors, even in a company as
welcoming and forward-thinking
as VEKA Group.
The Financial Times reported
last year that, in FTSE 250
companies, only 23.6 per cent of
board roles are held by women,
and about 100 companies in the
FTSE 350 either have no women,
or just one on their board.
I don’t believe this is because
men are somehow innately
better qualified for these roles,
but a successful candidate can
only be selected from those
24 » M AR 2019 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M
‘VEKA Group
is an absolute
meritocracy,
where the best
person will be
selected for
the right job,
whatever the
applicant’s age,
sex, ethnicity or
background’
that apply, and if women are not
putting themselves forward for
jobs in fenestration, then perhaps
we need to consider why that
might be.
People might say fenestration
is not the most ‘glamorous’
industry. We’re making and
marketing profile not perfume;
and when it comes to workwear,
I definitely see more DeWalt
than Dior.
But why should that matter?
Business principles and
creative marketing strategies can
be applied across any number of
industries and the success you
achieve can be just as rewarding
in any sector, particularly when
dealing B2B, when you haven’t
got the ‘pull’ of a major consumer
brand.
I love that the work at VEKA
Group is incredibly varied and
means that one day we are
busy creating a major consumer
advertising campaign or working
on our product innovation
strategy and the next we’re
helping on community projects
- like turning a bus into a library
for a local school!
My observation is that there
is a widely held assumption
that fenestration is an industry