DIVERSITY
BMF WOMEN’S FORUM SETS OUT ITS AMBITIONS
The BMF Women’s Forum, made up of 23 female senior leaders from across the industry, came together to discuss the issues around diversity.
T
he BMF has held its first ever BMF Women’s Forum, which was chaired by Maxine Frost, national sales director at City Plumbing.
“There’s a real sense in our industry that when it comes to diversity things need to change; and now is the right time to make it happen,” she says.
Frost explains that there was a real sense of urgency on the call with 23 female senior leaders and managers from across the industry who participated in the inaugural call for the BMF Women’s Forum.
She continued: “The desire from everyone to make a difference and to support change was palpable - and my main reflection afterwards was that the level of engagement was extremely high and there was a real sense of collective purpose.
“The key discussion points were around how to improve gender balance in the organisations aound the sector, as well as hearing about the experiences of women right across the industry. We need to make the network a safe space for people to talk about that experience, as well as to promote initiatives and drive new ideas.”
Sophie Turner, whose business “Yes She Can” aims to support women to break their glass ceiling, gave an inspirational talk and spoke about providing young women in the industry with role models.
Frost comments: “The expression “if you can see it, you can be it” says it all. “One of the questions Turner asked, which resonated in the room, was why do women have to be exceptional to succeed when often surrounded by mediocrity?
“A lot of women saw some truth in that and felt they had needed to be better than their male counterparts just to reach a senior position.”
The forum also covered the importance of attracting young people, and particularly women, into the industry at all levels – including at apprenticeship level. Frost says: “It’s important for the Women’s Forum to lead the industry in helping to attract and develop female talent – and provide them with a career path to success.
“We need to make this industry a place where women want to join, feel valued and then are supported to stay and succeed. “By the end of the call everyone was so
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engaged that it was almost impossible to say goodbye. There were so many busy women in senior positions with long to-do lists in the room, but they wanted to carry on the conversation, for me this is proof that the forum is needed.”
The next meeting of the forum will lay out some concrete ideas on the steps the industry needs to take in order to achieve the aims of the BMF’s Women’s Forum.
Frost says: “It was a fantastic way to kick off the forum and the next step is to consider how we take it forward this year. “How do we make what we do in future meaningful – creating a forum that has genuine output and delivers much-needed change? I’m thrilled to be the Chair of the committee to help to drive this forwards, in 2024 and beyond, and also to work for a company that supports me and shares my values in doing this.
“The collective belief during the forum was that the time is ripe for change. We already see green shoots in our own organisations, and now we need to seize the opportunity to drive meaningful change. It is long overdue.” BMJ
For all your BMJ advertising needs please contact: DAWN TUCKER
07934 731232
dtucker@datateam.co.uk
MORGAN BORTHWICK-HUNTER 07788 216991
MBorthwick-Hunter@datateam.co.uk February 2024
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