Yorkshire Water has been ranked as one of the top 50 best employers of women in the UK.
The accolade has come from The Times, which has recognised Yorkshire Water in its annual Top 50 Employers of Women list.
Women make up 33% of the company’s workforce, which has substantially increased over the past three years. Middle managers are now 33% female and the number of senior managers has increased by 10% to 30% female.
Becky McDonnell, Head of Talent at Yorkshire Water, said: “We are succeeding in breaking down pre-conceptions that the utilities and engineering sectors are a man’s world.
“This is no longer true, as we have made a concerted effort to attract females to highly skilled front-line engineering roles as well as a diverse range of rewarding office-based roles in HR, legal, communications, science and environmental that exist within the company. The range of opportunities we have is enormous and will attract talented females of all ages into the company from a diverse range of disciplines.”
The company’s development programmes include a ‘Pearls and Gems’ scheme in which 79 women have taken part in to-date. Of those surveyed, 54% said the scheme resulted in a role change, either sideways or upwards, or enhanced responsibility.
In partnership with Forward Ladies, the company also has a development programme for women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics roles. So far, ten women have enrolled on the year-long programme and attend a variety of development sessions, webinars, workshops and networking events.
The number of young women who are part of the firm’s engineering apprenticeship programme has also increased by 20% from last year.
