IWD 2022

At Fisher German, International Women's Day, which is celebrated on Tuesday 8 March, not only provides a key moment to reinforce commitment and action for forging women’s equality in the workplace, but also gives us the opportunity to celebrate some of our women's achievements and showcase how we have empowered people to find connection and support in the workplace.

Here we share experiences from women and men working across the business on the theme ‘break the bias’.

Laura Knight, a Senior Associate, completed a placement year with us in 2006 and went to work for another organisation before returning in 2015. She is now based within our Infrastructure Services team in Ashby-de-la-Zouch. Laura said: “I have just returned to work from maternity leave. I was actively encouraged to come back, and the support given to me by my colleagues has been amazing. Everyone here has a flexible and understanding approach and I have never felt hindered at work for being a woman, in fact the complete opposite – I love my job and can’t imagine ever working anywhere else!”.

Laura continued: “There has to be mutual trust and respect in the workplace relationship. It’s a two-way thing, it has to come from both sides. I can bring my whole self to work because everyone understands we all have good days and bad days and that’s important to me. Lockdown has helped too; hybrid working is an option for those who want to work from home. Having that flexibility means if I have to juggle things to meet other commitments at home, I will always meet expectations at work too”.

Lauren Allcoat, a Senior Surveyor based in Worcester, is currently the only female surveyor in the commercial agency team. She joined in July 2015 providing administrative maternity cover and was taken on full-time. She had always aspired to have a career in surveying and by June 2017 she had achieved AssocRICS status. Lauren said: “The support I received and still receive is second to none. There are no issues around equality at Fisher German, we are all part of one team working towards the same goals”.

Lauren explained: “Since I joined, I have seen a massive change in direction, there are lots of women in senior positions here now and I have always been actively encouraged to take the next step in my career. The commercial property market has always been male dominated and you must be strong willed, determined and confident in knowing you are an expert in your field. I find that we are all treated the same and if we weren’t I would always feel comfortable in saying so.”

Trish Young leads our Talent Acquisition function from our Head Office in Ashby-de-la-Zouch. She is part of the wider HR team who ensure we attract the right talent and that we strive to make our candidate experience one of the best in the industry. Trish said: “The most important thing for anyone joining us is they feel included & welcome from the moment they engage in the process, we employ people because of their attitude and their ethos and not from their experience alone.

Recruitment is really challenging now. We recruit from a very diverse background, so flexibility is hugely important to everyone we employ. What is important to us is that they are hardworking, committed and enjoy coming to work at FG. I’ve really loved seeing the company and particularly the Partnership develop into a more diverse team in all areas and look forward to seeing the further growth that we achieve through this”

Helena Tibbitts, joined us in 2006 as a secretary at our Stafford office and now leads the valuation team from Ashby. She is an RICS Registered Valuer, was winner of the RICS Matrics Valuation Young Surveyor of the Year 2017 and is now a Partner. Helena said: “Flexibility in the workplace is massively important. I too am a working mum and want to be successful both at home and at work.

Helena went on: “It can be tough, you have to work hard to succeed but here at Fisher German, the leadership team always recognises and rewards those who want to progress”.

Kerry Whitehill, an Associate Director leading the Midlands commercial property management team, joined us following our merger with Vine Property management in 2021. Kerry has worked in property management for her whole career and over 20 years she has never experienced any real challenges.

Kerry said: “It’s great to see attitudes changing towards women. I genuinely think that the pandemic has encouraged lots of organisations to make some significant changes to support their staff which has been really positive. Being able to work from home some days really helps, particularly saving time in not having to commute to and from the office every day. Working for an organisation who understands their staff is important; if people are happy this is reflected in their work. I manage a large team and I like to regularly to check in with them all, it is important to understand that people’s lives change and to ensure we retain good staff we need to move with these changes and support them as much as we can”.

However, the theme ‘break the bias’ is not just about women in the workplace but all manner of stereotypes which need to be broken down.

Owen Wilcox, our Events and Hospitality Officer based at our Ashby office, graduated from Lincoln University with a degree in Modern History and joined us after several temporary work placements.

Owen said: “I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do when I left university and working for a local agency enabled me to gain lots of experience. I had worked at Fisher German on a couple of temporary placements and was then offered a permanent position. No two days are the same here, which means you get to meet lots of different people across our wide range of services, so I get a real insight into our business which is great for me when I am still at the early stages of my career.”

Owen’s role enables him to work across both of our Ashby offices and positioned in reception, he can meet and greet most visitors to the building. Owen explained: “I lacked confidence when I first came into full time employment but from the start, I was given the opportunity to overcome this, and I am now happy to talk to anyone which I really enjoy.”

Huw Lewis joined Fisher German as a Valuation Administrator in May 2018. He graduated from Sheffield Hallam University in the summer of 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in Human Geography. He has spent the last few years supporting the valuation team at our Ashby office. Huw said: “The experience I have gained and the support I have received has been invaluable. I came to Fisher German as an administrator but feel that this has provided me with the best platform to understand the systems that support everything we do, which will be invaluable going forward”.

Huw is now working towards achieving AssocRICS Valuation pathway where he can focus on developing a career in valuations. Huw explained: “Being an administrator has helped me to see clearly where I want to focus my efforts and where I don’t! I had different reactions when I decided to join at this level; some questioned why I hadn’t joined the Graduate Programme but at the time I wasn’t sure how to access it as I graduated from a non-cognate university and wasn’t aware that the option would be available to me. I have been supported from start to finish and as I became more interested, I was able to go out on site visits and become more involved. I think it has been perfect for me”.

Fisher German is proud to support graduate applications from all university backgrounds, along with apprenticeships and placement opportunities for anyone considering a career in surveying, planning, agency or property management.

For more information about our wide range of roles available, visit our careers page or get in touch with Trish Young.

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