Celebrating International Women’s Day – Meet Hannah Kingsley

To celebrate “International Women’s Day”, we’re meeting some of the wonderful women that work here at C&L. Today we meet Hannah!

Name: Hannah Kingsley
Job Title: Project Manager
Location: North East Lintels (NEL)
Length of Service: 2 years, 10 months

What does your role involve?

My role has been very varied and a great learning opportunity over the last 6 months. I have predominantly been learning about all things ‘Lintels’, having come from a civils background, understanding the processes, products, getting to know our Lintel Hub teams better, and working more closely with customers and suppliers to understand individual needs. Going forward I will be focussing on Lintel processes and ways to make so me areas more efficient.

How do you feel being one of the few women in your workplace?

I am incredibly proud to be one of the women in C&L, and the wider Huws Gray Group. I have been in the industry for almost 10 years now, and can slowly see the industry becoming more diverse. I still think there is a long way to go, and I hope C&L are able to champion this.

What interest you in your role?

Helping and supporting others on their learning and growth journey. Personal development, continued learning, and working with a wide variety of people

How did you get to your position? Any advice to others?

I knew what sort of role I wanted when I first joined C&L – internal sales, being around a team, structure of mostly being in an office. Very shortly after starting, I was accepted onto the Pipeline Leadership course, which greatly helped me in gaining more confidence, knowledge, and a support system to push myself further and look for more challenges. I also had a supportive manager, that wanted to see me progress. I always wanted to do the best I could in any given role, and when other opportunities, such as assistant managing, depot managing, project roles came up, I had the confidence to say that I was interested.

My advice would be to know your worth. Everyone struggles, you don’t have to do things on your own. If you know what you bring to the table and surround yourself with the people who will support you and believe in you, you will get there.

What do you like about working for C&L?

Feeling like part of the team, whichever team I am with. I’ve spent time in a lot of different offices and depots over the last (almost) 3 years, and I always feel welcome and valued.

How do you feel working in a male dominated environment?

It used to make me feel quite intimidated, when I was younger and less sure of myself. I feel now that we need to do our part to make the industry more accessible and encourage more diversity (not just the female gender). I feel confident that we can do better with this, with the help of the incredibly supportive and encouraging men that currently make up the majority of the workforce at C&L.

Do you think being a woman in this industry has affected your opportunities for career development?

No, I don’t. Whether it is the companies I’ve worked for, or the people I’ve been fortunate enough to work with, I have never felt either held back or favoured for development. I trust that who I am, my work ethic and desire for consistent development speaks for itself, and I hope to help develop others in the future, whoever they are.