Transforming The Future

As part of International Women in Engineering Day, the global awareness campaign to raise the profile of women in engineering, Connect Plus Services visited the Leigh UTC and Wilmington Academy, in Dartford.

International Women in Engineering Day takes place annually on 23 June and the theme for 2019 is #TransformTheFuture.

With this in mind, Abbey Featherstone (Business Improvement Lead) and Alana Murphy (Leatherhead Operations and Maintenance Manager), from CPS, and Priya Janda (Assistant Project Accountant), from Balfour Beatty, visited both schools to speak to groups of female students about the different roles women can play in our industry and how a truly diverse workforce can transform the future.

Alana said: “It’s so important to engage with young people and promote opportunities that they may have never known existed. They don’t even need to be an engineer to be part of a team making things happen in an engineering world.”

By sharing their experience, they were able to enable the pupils to make more informed decisions about which career path they may want to take.

Priya said: “This is in an effort to change perceptions and encourage young women to also consider engineering as a viable and rewarding career.”

After the group presentation, there was a chance for the students to have some informal networking conversations with Abbey, Alana and Priya, showing the students that it is important to find the right fit for them.

Abbey said: “I love construction, I love everything about the built environment and engineering. In our industry, there are so many opportunities that women don’t realise they can do. It is time to shout about it.”

---

Notes to Editors

About Connect Plus and Connect Plus Services

  • Over 10 years ago, Highways England awarded Connect Plus the contract to operate and manage the M25 and its key arterial link roads.
  • Connect Plus is a consortium that includes Edge Orbital Holdings Ltd, Balfour Beatty and Egis Road Operation UK - a unique partnership with a collective strength in highways maintenance and management.
  • Connect Plus Services (CPS), is Connect Plus’ specialist and strategic supply chain partner responsible for operations and maintenance, bringing together the collective strength and expertise of its parent companies, Balfour Beatty, Atkins and Egis Road Operation UK.
  • With a workforce of around 600 people, based at seven locations around the network, CPS carries out routine maintenance, and whole-life management of thousands of M25 assets. CPS manages the operation of the network 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including a severe weather season maintenance programme.
  • Over the past 10 years, collectively we’ve delivered over £1.4bn worth of road improvements and junction enhancements, and we’re continually exploring new and innovative ways to deliver safer, more reliable journeys for our customers. Together, we’re passionate about delivering the long-term needs of the M25 and improving the driving experience for all our customers.
  • For further information please visit https://www.connectplusm25.co.uk/ or follow us at https://twitter.com/cpservices_m25