Women in Property has appointed a new Chairman for the South West, Carly Willis, a quantity surveyor with commercial interior design and fit-out company Claremont.
Carly has been on the Women in Property committee in Bristol for over five years, and is looking forward to taking over the reins of the busy regional branch. With nearly 250 members and hosting over 100 events per year, it is a very active part of the construction and diversity programme in Bristol. Building on the success of last year’s ‘Building: A Better Workforce’ report on equality and flexibility in the construction industry and the wider business community and tackling the issues that will inevitably arise as part of the gender pay gap reporting deadline in April will be key factors for Carly’s chairmanship.
Carly commented: “I want us to continue to make a difference within our industry, through enhancing our applauded mentoring scheme, promoting female role models and inspiring others. I am delighted we have just adopted our first school as part of the Constructing Excellence ‘Adopt A School’ programme. We are looking forward to encouraging engagement between the next generation and the construction industry, which is important to all of us and key to bridging the skills gap. We are also looking forward to working more closely with our local communities, both through our schools work and through our work with the Bristol Sport Foundation, which has been very rewarding for all sides in the last year”.
Claremont is one of the UK’s leading commercial interior design, fit-out, furniture and technology companies, with a reputation for delivering innovative workspaces that motivate and inspire. With offices in Bristol, London and Manchester, the company is engaged with projects across a breadth of industries throughout the UK. Bristol Director Simon Campion said: “We are looking forward to supporting Carly in her new role with Women in Property. Promoting diversity in our industry is something we aim to do as much as possible and we know Carly will bring an incredible energy to the role which will undoubtedly benefit everyone involved.”
Incoming Vice-Chairman and Planning associate solicitor at Thrings, Ros Trotman, said: “I have seen Women in Property South West go from strength to strength since I joined in 2014. The organisation remains as committed as ever in its efforts to bring gender equality, merit-based success and fairness to the property and construction sector. I am therefore delighted to be stepping up from the position of joint events coordinator to support Carly in continuing the branch’s excellent work over the next year.”
