Women are significantly underrepresented in the construction industry and attracting more female talent and achieving an accurate representation of women in all roles in the sector will have a greater positive impact. Identifying and attracting the best talent is always a challenge of recruitment. At CPI, vital modifications to their
CPI holds a market leading position in the construction materials sector, and we recognise our responsibility to play a similar leading role on sustainability in construction materials. We believe we have an opportunity to make a positive contribution to redefining the norms of the sector and to be an advocate
CPI EuroMix is delighted to announce the appointment of Wendy McFarlane as its Financial Director. Wendy, who began her role on March 1st, said the dry mortar specialists’ reputation was a deciding factor in her taking up an ‘exciting’ opportunity within the company. She said: “The company’s values and their
BDC 319 : Aug 2024
Women are significantly underrepresented in the construction industry and attracting more female talent and achieving an accurate representation of women in all roles in the sector will have a greater positive impact. Identifying and attracting the best talent is always a challenge of recruitment. At CPI, vital modifications to their recruitment practices and channels have been carried out to ensure a wide demographic talent pool is reached. The number of female colleagues at CPI increased by five in 2021, which is an early positive indication of change in demographic. CPI are enthusiastic about opening up new career paths that women may not have thought of as viable options for themselves. They are delighted to have recruited their first female driver colleague and are proud to have supported an existing female colleague at Harlow through their driver academy to attain her HGV licence and take her place behind the wheel as part of the driver team. CPI have identified barriers in their own work environment that might prevent women joining the business. Welfare, changing and shower facilities have been upgraded to ensure that they are suitable for both male and female colleagues. CPI recognise that their colleague facilities need to be suitable for the demographic needed in the business and not simply the demographic that currently exists. The CPI range of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) clothing was initially based on a male design and sizing; however, the range of PPE has now been extended to ensure that it includes both male and female sizing and options for all relevant PPE requirements. Gender diversity within the construction industry is astonishingly low. According to The Guardian, women make up just 11% of the entire construction workforce. The construction industry is male-dominated, and as a result, professions associated with construction are less promoted to women, leading to extremely low levels of female employees entering the sector. Moreover, women that do wish to work in construction, are sometimes met with barriers to progression resulting in them abandoning construction as a career entirely and the loss of talent from the industry. CPI recognises that a diverse workforce leads to higher employee engagement, better decision making, and higher levels of productivity. A diverse workforce brings a range of fresh perspectives, leading to increased creativity and innovation. Perhaps most importantly, when people feel that they are welcome, accepted and valued team members, they do their best work, resulting in high levels of personal and professional fulfilment, which is why CPI believe in creating a more inclusive workplace. CPI is proud to champion its female colleagues, and the team is continually challenging their work practices to ensure an inclusive workplace is provided for all to support the ambitions in achieving an increasingly diverse and representative workforce.
CPI holds a market leading position in the construction materials sector, and we recognise our responsibility to play a similar leading role on sustainability in construction materials. We believe we have an opportunity to make a positive contribution to redefining the norms of the sector and to be an advocate for a low-carbon sustainable future. The CPI sustainability strategy identifies commitments in four key focus areas: planet, customer and products, people and communities. Underpinning these four areas is our commitment to an ethical and responsible approach to how we conduct our business every day. Our strategy challenges us to address issues that are closest to our business, and which make the biggest contribution to the UN Global Sustainable Development Goals that we have identified as being most relevant to us. Protecting our planet for us means limiting our impact on natural resources, reducing our carbon footprint by managing our use of energy and minimising waste, and recycling wherever possible. Our commitment to these principles and protecting the environment is underpinned by our ISO 14001 Environmental Management accreditation. Recognising that our manufacturing process has a high energy demand we completed a switch to 100% renewable electricity procurement during 2021. We have also identified scope to achieve partial self-sufficiency for electricity, reducing our demand on what is a limited renewable energy capacity, by installing solar arrays at a number of our factories during 2022. Despite a programme of annual re-investment in our delivery vehicles, we operate a diesel fleet that generates high emissions. At present we have not identified a suitable, more sustainable alternatives to our current fleet but continue to explore new technology developments and are highly engaged with our vehicle manufacturers. In the absence of imminent changes to our distribution carbon emissions we have initiated a carbon capture forestry scheme in partnership with Potanow Forestry. The CPI 30-hectare forest of some 80,000 trees will ensure that all EuroMix deliveries in 2022, both by CPI vehicles and also those contracted by us, will be carbon neutral. Our ISO 9001 Quality Management System accreditation, the international standard for quality management, is at the heart of our ambitions to drive continuous improvement to meet our customer needs. This is a key principle of the customer and product focus element of our sustainability strategy. Our BES 6001 Responsible Sourcing accreditation gives our customers the confidence that the materials used in our products have been secured through a responsible and sustainable supply chain. As the pioneers of dry silo mortar in the UK, at CPI we have some of the best technical product knowledge in the industry. We are using this extensive product knowledge to collaborate with our supply chain partners to develop more sustainable product choices within the parameters of the British Standard specification for masonry mortars as well as the other products we produce. Additionally, CPI takes a sustainable approach to limiting its waste streams, and reducing its use of plastics, and is also in the early stages of developing a sustainability code with its raw materials suppliers. We value our people and strive to provide a fair, safe and inclusive workplace where every colleague feels welcome and empowered to achieve their full potential. We know our colleagues also care about the environment and through our sustainable living campaigns, we help and support them to live more sustainably by providing useful information and resources. Making a positive contribution in the communities in which we operate is important to us and we are engaging with our colleagues to identify local community projects to support and to nominate charity partners. We are continuing our work with schools and colleges to raise awareness in areas such as health and safety, and the environment. At CPI, we are continually looking for new opportunities to support greater sustainability in the industry and our communities. We are committed to creating a more sustainable future and making progress within the construction industry. To discover more about CPI Euromix’s sustainability initiatives, visit: https://www.cpieuromix.com/sustainability/
CPI EuroMix is delighted to announce the appointment of Wendy McFarlane as its Financial Director. Wendy, who began her role on March 1st, said the dry mortar specialists’ reputation was a deciding factor in her taking up an ‘exciting’ opportunity within the company. She said: “The company’s values and their ambition made a real impact on me. I was already aware of CPI’s brand success, so I’m delighted to have joined such a forward-thinking team.” Wendy has the skills and experience to make a success of her new position. She completed an Accounting & Finance degree before training as a Chartered Accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Prior to joining CPI, Wendy spent 10 years at food manufacturer Devro PLC where she progressed to Global Supply Chain Finance Business Partner. CPI EuroMix is a market leader in the production of dry mix mortars, which are available in a range of colours and finishes to meet the complex demands of specifiers and users. Wendy, who will be based at CPI’s site in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, said she was looking forward to playing a part in the company’s future success. “CPI is led by a fantastic management group and has a strong finance team in place,” she said. “I’m excited to work with and support the team whilst considering how we can bring further added- value services to the business.”
