A successful land director at Vistry Group says all women can reach the top in the business – highlighting equal training opportunities for every employee – during a joint International Women’s Day panel with a major brick product supplier.

Hannah Pattinson, strategic land director, said female leaders at the housebuilder should know they are ‘on a level playing field’ and are inspiring younger colleagues, in a live panel session with Ibstock plc, a leading manufacturer of clay bricks and concrete products.

Hannah, who has worked for the business for five years, emphasised the importance of flexible working as she took part in the Vistry-Ibstock event, which also included a Q&A format, with Western Housebuilding MD, Dave Farley; Ibstock supply chain director, Joanne Humphrey; and chief operating officer, Darren Waters.

“One thing that Vistry does particularly well is to offer equal training opportunities across the Group for everybody and they are easily accessible,” Hannah said. “There needs to be no tolerance to bias that comes from the very top at companies in the housebuilding industry and at Vistry we see how that filters down to all employees.

“Work life balance and flexibility is integral to how we work and you can see families sharing the workload a lot more equally – there is no reason why somebody can’t progress in their career if they are talented. Vistry is flexible and supportive and caters to any needs colleagues might have. Agile working within Vistry has been a game changer and I’ve heard of parents really benefiting from that. There are some great examples of colleagues within Vistry that do amazing things in work and at home and we are celebrating those people.

“Female managers starting out in the housebuilding industry should start with the belief that they can do the job as well as anyone else, that they’re on a level playing field. That’s what we see at Vistry and it’s really important leaders show their personality. They should set their stool out and stick to their standards and that should be the case whether you’re a woman or a man. I’m a great believer in empowerment, listening and taking people on the journey with you.”

Dave, who has spent more than 30 years in housebuilding, said the sector had become more diverse in recent years and improvements were adding to housebuilders’ success. He is in the process of handing over his role to Vistry associate MD, Emma Colin.

“We know that a more diverse housebuilding team will lead to better productivity, efficiency and therefore success,” Dave, who has two young daughters, said. “Having more women on our regional boards and running our businesses is a really good thing and improves the company and I’m excited at where Emma can take Vistry Western. Vistry is much better for having women in senior positions – the industry is moving forward. We know women have felt they had to alter their personalities to progress in their role, but that is now changing.”

Vistry's Women's Network, formed last year, encourages staff to share experiences – both at faceto-face events and online – support one another and promote the profile of women in construction.

Vistry and Ibstock are joining forces to explore challenges and changes that can be made to progress and encourage more women to join the construction industry. This year’s International Women's Day theme was #BreakTheBias.