Women at Watsons (Surveying)

WOMEN AT WATSONS
by Leslie-Anne Milson MRICS, Chartered Surveyor and RICS Registered Valuer

Today (8 March) is International Women’s Day 2021, so for today the focus is on us women. That’s me on the right with my colleague Hannah…

What makes a woman want to be a property surveyor when, let’s face it, the industry is historically renowned for being male dominated.

The UK Parliament first passed the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919, which allowed women – for the first time – to work in many highly skilled and often vital professions that are essential to the economy and the nation, such as surveying.

The first ever woman to qualify as a Chartered Surveyor in England was Irene Barclay, way back in 1922. That’s just shy of 100 years ago (something to celebrate next year?) Irene went on to have a dynamic and very successful 50-year career. Irene unwittingly paved the way for thousands of women to follow in her successful footsteps.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) currently has 140,000 members who operate out of 146 countries, of these, just 14% are women.  The percentage of new female entrants into surveyor training is much, much higher at 31%, however, the overall percentage of qualified RICS women members has changed little in recent years.

I have recently joined Watsons to continue my career as a Residential Chartered Surveyor to learn that they have a very high ratio with 33% of my new team of 21 surveyors being female.  I asked Ray Smith, Senior Partner, if this was a conscious business decision and he said no; ‘When we recruit we just want the best person for the job.’

I have since canvassed some of my new female colleagues to ask how it was for them having Watsons as their employer.  I was met with overwhelmingly positive responses mentioning the key words that all employees like to hear; support and acceptance.  Watsons care about their employees well-being; they do not shout it from the rooftops, they just engage with their staff regularly and all, regardless of gender, feel they have a voice.

In the ‘new normal’ that we are now living, most of us are finding that working from home works very well, especially when the right support is in place.  This will undoubtedly help those, men and women, with childcare or other caring responsibilities, or like me, who prefer to walk the dog in daylight and work after dark?

Home working is much more fluid and flexible, no more racing through rush hour to have a visible presence in an office; we are now making ourselves visible in other, more virtual ways, which actually gets our names and faces to a much wider audience.  Whilst home working means that we may be at our desks earlier in the morning or later in the evening, the work/life balance seems better because it can all be done around our other responsibilities.  This may be something that helps to encourage women into the industry or, once in, gives them more of an opportunity to stay and hopefully, going forward, more companies will be able to celebrate, as Watsons do, a more even gender balance.

So, what makes a woman want to be a surveyor?  It seems to stem from a spark at a very young age:

• Diana Morton, Residential Chartered Surveyor, grew up on a family farm and after an initial interest in farm and estate management started her career in general practice before focusing on residential property.

• Ruth Warnes, Valuation Surveyor, who, from a very young age liked to type up property particulars and try to ‘sell’ them to anyone who would listen.  Ruth says that she was lucky enough to have attended an all girls school that instilled in her there were no limitations to what a girl could achieve.

• Zoe Plant, Residential Valuer, was inspired by her grandfather who was a Surveyor and started her career as a Land Agent.  She knew she wanted to work in agriculture but without driving tractors!

• Hannah McConnell-Wood, Chartered Surveyor, obtained a degree in real estate before gaining experience in estate agency whilst undertaking her studies to become a Chartered Surveyor.  Hannah now loves to survey old buildings which, of course, Lincolnshire has lots.

Me? When my children were young I had a part-time job in a general practice rural agency; this sparked my interest in property and after qualifying as an Interior Designer was offered the opportunity, by my then employer, to undertake studies to become a Chartered Surveyor.  I say I like anything ‘house’! I have never looked back since gaining my qualification and would recommend a career in surveying, wholeheartedly, to anyone who enjoys property in the many and various forms it takes.

Keep your eyes open for further blogs where you can find out more about our female Chartered Surveyors.

Leslie-Anne Milson MRICS
Residential Chartered Surveyor & RICS Registered Valuer
Lincolnshire