This report by On The Tools, published in March 2023, found that 93% of UK tradespeople have been impacted by mental ill health in some way, with 73% of all UK tradespeople surveyed experiencing mental ill health right now or in the past. A further 20% hadn’t personally experienced mental ill health but knew another tradesperson who had.

SC4 is passionate about encouraging more women into STEM and Construction. Owner/Director, Katy Hall, believes that changing attitudes to gender from a very young age, and in our day to day interactions, could cause a shift towards this and improve life for all.

SC4 Carpenters Ltd is pleased and proud to announce that Katy Hall, joint owner & Director of SC4, has won an Inspirational Business Women in STEM and Construction Award in 2025.

The number of women venturing into roles in the construction industry is still modest, but is growing year by year. Since 2022, around 14-16% of the UK construction workforce have been female, with more women entering the sector from higher education. In 2023, The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported 340,000 women employed by the sector, an increase of 3.2% since 2019. As construction becomes an increasingly popular and attractive career pathway for women, however, ensuring women’s safety and well-being on-site remains paramount.

Among the issues facing the incoming Labour government are long term, structural difficulties within the UK construction sector. It’s not that there’s any shortage of demand.

SC4 Carpenters Ltd is thrilled to announce that Katy Hall, one of the owner/directors or SC4 Carpenters Ltd, has been shortlisted for 3 awards at the Inspiring Women in Construction and Engineering awards 2024.

This year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) falls on Friday 8th March 2024. 10 years ago in 2014, International Women’s Day, also on 8th March, as always, took the theme of ‘equality for women is progress for all’. This year’s IWD is a good opportunity to reflect on how far we’ve come in terms of that vision in the UK construction sector over the past decade, and where further improvements can be made.

As we look forward to International Women’s Day next month (8th March 2024), a lot of construction industry stakeholders and thought leaders are reflecting on the position of women in the industry and how things can be improved. Without ignoring the huge improvements in female involvement in the sector, there is still clearly a long way to go – with at most 16% of British industry workers being women.

In January 2024, the Sustainability Tool, in collaboration with the Supply Chain Sustainability School’s Fairness, Inclusion and Respect (FIR) Programme, published its UK built environment diversity survey. This survey of more than 526,000 people provides a detailed record of diversity data and pinpoints areas for improvement.

One of the biggest trends in UK construction is the growing involvement of women at all levels of the sector. In this two-part article series, we’ll look at the challenges and opportunities faced by women in the construction industry. From breaking down stereotypes to exploring the benefits of a diverse workforce, we will address some of the most commonly asked questions and uncover the untapped potential of women in a traditionally male-dominated sector.

With the exception of a growing number of noteworthy and admirable examples, construction is still largely a male-dominated industry. Walk onto an average construction site and you’re not likely to see too many women in hard hats and vests, but this is changing rapidly due to changing societal attitudes, better promotion of STEM subjects as viable subjects for girls and young women in schools and universities, and more information about the wide range of job opportunities available in construction.

Whether you are a business owner, manager, or employee, we all have a part to play in creating a more welcoming and inclusive work environment within our industry. As business owners, it is easy to make all the right moves in our attempts to hire a more diverse team of tradespeople and on-site operatives, but what happens when they quit due to bullying, discrimination, or lack of accessibility?

In this article, SC4 Carpenters Ltd Owner/Director talks more about her nomination as a UK Construction Week Role Model in 2023 and why the promotion of women, neurodiversity and equity in construction is so important. When I first started out there were very few women in construction and in fact it took me many years to understand that I was working in the construction industry.

Katy Hall, Owner Director of SC4 Carpenters Ltd talks to the Federation of Master Builders about the many opportunities for Women in Construction and the improvements the industry has seen over the last decade to increase the number of women entering the construction industry. Katy discusses her experience over her 20 years and the shift in attitudes to women in construction.

Here at SC4 Carpenters, we are committed to not only calling out this behaviour by businesses but also doing our utmost to make sure that none of these imbalances appears within our company. We understand carpentry is about skill and hard work, and the quality of the work is in no way affected by gender, sexuality, ethnicity, disabilities or social background.

At SC4 we were very excited to be attending the 2022 Women’s Day Event in London, on 8th March, to celebrate female leaders in the construction industry. Since the event, we've updated this blog with a few images from the event. At the Women’s Day Event, SC4 Director, Katy Hall, joined the panel with other industry leaders for a discussion all about how to tackle issues surrounding diversity and equality in Construction.

In this article, Owner/Director of SC4 Carpenters Ltd, Katy Hall, relates her story in construction reflecting on her role and changing Construction Industry attitudes to women over the last 30 years. I was an equal owner and director and was heavily involved in the commercial strategy right from the start. Yet I still saw it as their company. They were the ones on site, they had the technical knowledge and carpentry experience.

As an Ambassador for Women in Construction #WIC and Diversity in Construction #DIC, and as a Mental Health First Aider - #MHFA, I truly believe that if we are to attract women and people from diverse communities, or those with disabilities into Construction, Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths #STEM, as well as support those already in the industry struggling with prejudice, hidden and visible disabilities.

SC4 are happy to announce, we will be sending two representatives, as Diversity in Construction Ambassadors, to the London Build Expo 2019. The session is free-to-attend for all and offers the chance for industry professionals to network and feel inspired. Learn from a panel of diversity champions discussing the the key issues and major developments within the UK's built environment.

Rachael talks about how she became Marketing & Communications Manager for SC4 Carpenters Ltd and why her role as Welfare Liaison was so important.

Katy Hall has been Finance Director, Company Secretary and an owner of SC4 Carpenters Ltd since its inauguration in 2000. Read Katy's story in construction to find out how she came to construction and why she believes it is so important for the industry that it attracts more women.

In this article, SC4 continues its efforts to promote positive growth in the Construction Industry. We present the facts about women in construction, such as, of the 2 million people who work in the Construction Industry in the UK, just 320,000 are Women and only 7% of women in construction work in manual positions.