International Women's Day 2025: Meet Claire Allard
As we celebrate International Women’s Day, we wanted to find out from the women who work in our industry what it is like to work in an environment that is predominantly male dominated.
Today, we spoke to Claire Allard who works in the Distribution Centre as a Distribution Centre Manager.
Claire, tell us what motivated you to pursue a career in this field?
I worked in manufacturing for 25 years in pharmaceutical and FMCG. Seven years ago, I wanted to get into a different industry and found construction interesting and something totally different for me. I started in the business as Supply Chain Manager and the career path was for me to take on distribution management, this happened within three months, I grasped the opportunity and never looked back.
Have you had any mentors or role models who helped shape your career? If so, how did they influence you?
Yes, I’ve been lucky and had good managers that believed in me throughout my career and pushed me outside of my comfort zone. This has helped shape who I am today and develop my career and had a positive effect on my management style.
What challenges have you faced as a woman in a male-dominated industry?
When I first started in this role, I felt like there were a lot of people thinking “she is a woman, what does she know”. When issues have arisen and people have asked to speak to the manager, I’ve seen visibly shocked faces when I make an appearance. It took some time to build the trust and relationships but with perseverance over time I’m pleased to say this has happened.
What changes would you like to see in this industry to make it more inclusive for women?
It would be good for more opportunities for women in both operations and leadership roles and I would also like to see more training opportunities in order to empower women to thrive in male dominated industries.
If you met your younger self for coffee, what would you say to her?
Go for it, Claire! Don’t let others put you off, be confident and be a self-advocate and never be afraid in expressing your ideas and opinions. Take on challenges, recognise your strengths as a woman and leverage your diverse point of view on things in order to bring new ideas.
What misconceptions do people have about women working in construction, and how do you challenge them?
As I said before, there’s an assumption that because I am a woman, I might not necessarily know how to do the job. This is true and we all need to learn from each other. I hope I’ve broken down those barriers and shown any woman they can work in construction.
Finally, you’ve spoken about your role and the industry but how do you achieve work-life balance, what do you like to do in your spare time?
I am a single mum to a teenage daughter and love spending as much quality time with her, when I am not being sidelined for her friends! We both love to travel and try to get away as often as we can (not often enough). When I am not with my daughter, I take part in competitive ballroom and Latin dancing. This keeps me very busy as I compete in regional and national competitions around six times a year so there is always something to work towards.