Who said women don’t want to work in construction?
Working for a block-making company wasn’t necessarily Jade Homer’s intended career path – but the Psychology graduate could not be any happier at Besblock.
The 23 year old, originally from Kingswinford near Dudley in the UK, started working for the Telford based concrete block manufacturer in September 2016, having graduated from Aston University a year earlier.
A psychology degree might not be the most obvious hook into the construction industry, but Jade hasn’t looked back since becoming the firm’s youngest staff member.
And the graduate trainee’s secret to success at award-winning Besblock? “You need your wits about you and you need to take a joke – we enjoy a harmless laugh and a joke sometimes, which I think underlines the strength and morale of the company,” said Jade “I absolutely love it here – it’s so friendly and so warm to new members of staff. My colleagues are great to work for. I was a bit nervous when I joined as I was the youngest and coming into a male environment. I’d been for other jobs before I joined Besblock. I graduated in 2015 so I’d been looking for a while. I was offered a job in the civil service, which didn’t really appeal. I worked in retail for a bit too. I never thought ‘I know, I’ll go into block making’ but when I came for the interview it seemed like a nice company to work for. It’s a welcoming environment. Everyone looks after each other and it’s very clear that people tend to stay here for a long time.”
Jade has found some good use her University education, underlining that experiencing a higher education lifestyle can benefit the manufacturing sector.
She added: “I did psychology at Aston for 4 years… I’ve not really had to use that here but no matter what you learn at uni there is something you can bring to a company. It was a valuable experience to do those four years and a lot of those skills I’ve brought here. I have no immediate plan to return to the psychology sector. I enjoy what I do here. I’ve really settled in. I’m happy here and it’s a well-known company in the sector, with a very strong reputation. People don’t realise how small we are in relation to our reputation and how long we’ve been around. We have a lot of traditional values, a family-run business that appeals to people here.”
Besblock is one of Britain’s leading construction companies, specialising in the manufacturing of concrete blocks. Formed in 1972, the Shropshire-based firm have established themselves as market leaders. Their flagship product is the revolutionary Star Performer, described by managing director Andrew Huxley as the “ultimate block for the house builder”.
