Member Article

Cubby Construction championing women in the construction industry

“We’ll never win on a girls’ team” said the young boy who formed a team with four ladies from Cubby Construction for the Kingmoor Cup, a business challenge organised last year to raise funds for Carlisle Youth Zone.

The Cubby women went on to win the Cup and one of the team, Louise Blaen (34) shared the story about the boy’s comments with her two children, Skye (7) and Max (5) to reinforce that “everyone is equal at the end of the day and that gender is no barrier to determination or success.”

The theme of equality will be at the heart of International Women’s Day on Sunday 8th March which will see the start of a yearlong campaign #EachforEqual to encourage a more gender equal world and more opportunities in the workplace particularly in more male dominated industries.

Independently owned Cubby Construction based in Carlisle has always strived to create opportunities for everyone to thrive according to ability and to push the boundaries. Louise Blaen is no exception. She joined the company as a CAD Designer two years ago after a career break to bring up her children.

Glasgow University graduate Louise quickly established herself at Cubby Joinery working on projects to design everything from bespoke furniture to kitchens to timber studs for homes. “I enjoy the design side when you see something you’ve pictured actually come to life. Every day is different and there are always challenges to navigate.”

One of those challenges is how people think about girls working in the sector but as Tommy Cubby explains “we want to change that so girls working in the sector just becomes the norm, with people doing what they are good at”

As part of this culture, Tommy formed a partnership with Carlisle Youth Zone to help encourage future generations to achieve whatever they want regardless of gender. A recent project had young people building 85 bird boxes based on a design produced by Louise and the team.

Tommy’s team includes Quantity Surveyors Samantha Gibson, Sarah Million and Laura Vandale, CAD and workshop coordinator Maxine Kirkpatrick and workshop joiner Libby as well as Chief Engineer Consultant Chetna Reay.

Cubby Construction has specialised in construction, civil engineering, joinery manufacture and installation and sustainable housing since 1968.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jo Leah .