Actis director chosen as Women in Construction Ambassador

Actis regional sales director Jemma Harris has been chosen as a Women in Construction Ambassador by London Olympia’s London Build Expo.

Harris, who heads up the sales team in the Northern half of the UK, will be among scores of women selected to help drive equality and diversity within the construction industry. She will be joined by fellow Ambassador LABC’s head of business development Anna Thompson, with whom she works closely delivering training for builders, architects and building control officers across the UK.

Harris and Thompson will attend, along with around 1,200 other women, a panel discussion and networking event on the second day of London Build which takes place at London Olympia on November 27 and 28.

Harris started her career in the Royal Navy, serving seven years specialising in above water warfare and weapons, and gained an HND in mechanical engineering before moving construction industry sales. She explained, “Diversity and inclusion are always something industries should strive for. I’d like to think that, along with other women in the industry, we are making an impact and difference in inspiring the next female generation to get involved in construction.”

Thompson is a chartered surveyor and chartered building engineer and has been working in building control since 1985. After more than 20 years as a public sector surveyor she joined LABC as director of training and is now head of business development. She added, “Women in Construction is a fantastic initiative and one that I am so proud to promote as an ambassador. Few professions or sectors can offer the same breadth of roles and opportunities, from surveyors to construction managers, from bricklayers to SAP assessors and from architectural engineers to fire specialists. And most importantly, all of these are open to everyone as a career, regardless of gender, ethnicity and even age.”