Brogan, our Marketing Manager, booked a teams with Jade Andrews, Category Manager for Burton Roofing to have a chat with her about her career in the Construction Industry. The chat was recorded and transcribed to give you an insight in her experience being a women in the industry.
Full transcription is below.
Brogan Neve
Excellent, perfect. Right, so to start off, I just want to know a little bit more about yourself and your current role, if that’s alright.
Jade Andrews
So, my name is Jade. I am 30 years old. I live in Hull, currently working for Burton Roofing, who are a roofing merchant, the second largest in the UK.
I started there, I want to say about 7, eight months ago. Previously I worked at MKM, which is a building merchant. So a little bit of a change going into roofing because it’s more of a specialist sector, I would say. So I’m the category manager for Pitch Roofing Accessories. So I’m responsible for everything other than the bulk. So everything excluding tiles, batons, lead. I think that’s it. So I look after like setting cost prices, selling prices. negotiating with our supply chain, supplier management, so building relationships, negotiating deals, rebates, performance analysis, tracking sales margin, stock profitability margin.
Competitor awareness and market awareness as well, I would say. So looking what’s going on in the market, can we implement that in our business? Is there products that we’re missing out on? How do we develop categories and grow the categories? It’s something I do with solar at the minute, which we’re fairly new to.
So yeah, that’s kind of my role within the business.
Brogan Neve
Yeah, perfect. How long have you been in the construction industry or building materials industry?
Jade Andrews
I’ve been within the construction industry. I want to say…
About 8 years, but specifically in the builders merchant industry, nearly four. I worked and lived in Australia before this. I actually worked on large scale solar farms, so they were about $250 million projects.
That was ranging from 6 to 12 months. I was a labourer on site and I worked in the office. So that’s how I started working within the construction industry. But I started within the builders merchant industry when I started MKM, so four years ago.
Brogan Neve
Do you enjoy what you do?
Jade Andrews
Yeah, I do. I kind of fell on it to be honest. When I lived in Australia, I was working on sites. I was actually like a general labour because I had to do my 88 days farm work there to get another visa. And I was like helping, spotting excavators, diggers,
I was building set fences, like bash driving poles into the ground, like very manual labour in 40 degree heat. And it was, I want to say it was like 70, 80 hour working weeks, 13 and one roster. So it was a lot.
Brogan Neve
Right.
Wow.
Jade Andrews
But I ended up speaking to someone in the office and had said, I’d gone to uni, done a business management degree, blah blah blah. And I was like, oh, we’re looking for a cost control assistant. Like, would you want to do it? And I was also like, yes, because I’ve been in the air con and like office life was a lot better. So I fell into doing that and a bit of procurement. And then I continued on the solar farm to do procurement and logistics.
So then when I came back to MKM, I was kind of looking for a job within that area and then fell into category management. I wouldn’t say I knew what category management was before. I was more procurement as in raising purchase orders, buying invoice discrepancies, all of that kind of stuff.
But yeah, I definitely enjoy it now. I think the hardest part is when you move to another company is learning the new categories. Like I said, roofing is quite specialist. So learning the categories has been a bit of a challenge. But I think if you’ve got that commercial experience, you can bring that with you. So I definitely say once you get a good understanding of your suppliers and your categories, it’s quite a nice place to work because in category management you are dealing with everyone and I don’t think in the builders merchant industry without category managers, you don’t have any product to sell. So you kind of integral part of the business. So you’re working with purchase ledger, rebates, marketing, regional directors, external sales suppliers, so it’s quite Yeah, it’s quite, I would say it’s fun because every day is different. You’re putting out fires every day. So if you’re not after someone just sitting and doing the same job every single day, then this is the job for you.
Brogan Neve
Good
What do you think that this industry could do to attract and retain more women?
Jade Andrews
Good question.
I think I would say, that for me, one thing, one massive thing I think is the industry is behind in is maternity policies. When I started at MKM, it was just standard statutory and then they got a female CEO who then implemented a more attractive maternity policy. But I would say when I’m looking at jobs, before I moved to Burton Roofing and I had a couple of job offers and when you work in a different sector, the maternity policy is a lot richer. I think women find it quite hard when they’re trying to save up to go on maternity and then they just get in statutory maternity. So for me, that’s definitely one thing. is the maternity policy, I think, not just having statutory standard and going a bit above and beyond. Because I think if you speak to all of my friends who are in this industry, they all have three months full pair, six months full pair, whereas everyone I speak to in this industry is probably just done it on statutory.
Brogan Neve
Yeah.
Jade Andrews
And…
And then.
I’ll probably just say…
I think it’s quite behind the builders merchant industry in terms of marketing. So I don’t think it comes across a lot of women’s pages really in the sense of I fell into it because when I started a friend worked within the builders merchant industry. I’m from hull, I didn’t have a clue who MKM was and obviously they’re hull born and bred. So I think getting females into the industry a lot younger, so whether that’s through apprenticeships, I think is quite important, but maybe focusing more on women because a lot of men, when they come out of college, they may have done apprenticeship in plastering or building work and then sometimes fall into a builder’s merchant. Whereas I think females don’t really necessarily look down that route.
So for me, I would definitely say getting younger females into apprenticeship schemes within the industry a lot younger and definitely marketing the industry a lot more, which I think we have come forward in that now. But I think if you’re not within this industry, you don’t actually really know any builds merchants, but we all know, we all go to Asda or Tesco or Lidl. We all know about them kind of businesses. So I think probably getting into schools a lot earlier and maybe supporting with internships or apprenticeships when children or kids are at school. So that it’s something that they can think about later on.
I know we do top 30 in Hull which I think is really good. That definitely helps, I would say, younger women develop their careers. MKM take part of it. I think Builders Merchants can get involved more into that kind of schemes as well to help develop women’s leadership and put them at the forefront of the business rather than just being sat and typically doing office work. We have a lot, we have quite a few women actually within our within bed and roofing that are branch managers or branch staff, which is not common within this industry. It’s heavily male branch managers or branch directors.
So I definitely think the opportunities for them roles in an apprenticeship scheme, whether it’s a yard driver, forklift driver or a branch manager or a sales staff in a branch, them kind of roles to be provided to women, for merchants to go into school and present and say, look, This is what you could do. These are the jobs. We have 3 apprentices this year. If you’re interested in getting some more career days, because I think it’s quite important to embed it at a younger age group, because that’s when people are thinking about the future and say 15, 14, 16 years old. before they decide if they’re going to university or want to get into a job.
Brogan Neve
Yeah, it’s important for like, so when I was at school, when I look at the construction industry, I just think so my other half is a builder, he’s a jack of all trades, that’s all I ever used to think of. I had no idea that category managers and I had no idea.
Jade Andrews
Yeah, it’s like my friend, she works for the police, but she does like innovation, but she goes and presents now at universities and schools to say, it’s not just police officers, there’s all of these roles in the business that take place that are focused within the builders merchant industry, but you can transfer from being a category manager at a logistics company or a beauty company to doing the same role at a builders merchant. They’re all transferable skills. I think making people aware that you don’t have to be a plasterer or a builder or have knowledge of a trade or that industry to do a job within the industry.
You can work in marketing, purchase, like, yeah, there’s so many roles that you can work in that I think people would not expect from a builders merchant.
Brogan Neve
Yeah, no, exactly. So what do you enjoy the most about working in this sector? A lot of people that I speak to, it is usually always the people. From a personal point of view, it is definitely, for me, it’s the people, because everyone we speak to when we’re ringing people, asking them, if they’re interested in a role, 90% of the time they are the nicest people we speak to.
Jade Andrews
Yes.
Yeah, yeah. I definitely, yeah, I think it’s the relationship, not even internally, externally, because you build your relationships within my role with the suppliers. And whether you move around, a lot of people move around within this industry, but the same people always stay in it.
that, you know, a lot of people have been in the industry for 30, 40 years. I think that’s an achievement in itself. But building a relationship with the suppliers for me, I think they’re the kind of people you speak to every day, you negotiate in terms of them at the end of the year.
to have a good relationship with them. It’s quite a sociable job. You’re not just sat behind a desk and you’re not speaking to anyone all day. People within this industry still like to meet face to face after COVID obviously teams became really important within businesses. It meant that it was more accessible for people to have meetings when they weren’t in the office.
But I definitely find within this industry, people love that face to face interaction, whether it’s at an award ceremony like the BMN or it’s to have a catch up over a coffee to discuss the market, whether you don’t even need to discuss anything about that category. You’re discussing the market and what’s going on and you’re relying on your suppliers or your sales staff or your branch staff to give you information to feed to you that then it enables you to do a better job at managing the category. So I definitely think for me, it’s that is 1 aspect. And then the probably other aspect is that every day is different and I can get bored quite easily.
I don’t come to work, well, when I come to work I can have a list of things I need to do. I can guarantee that I probably going to do about 10% of them each day because I’m doing, I’m putting out fires, someone’s called me and this product hasn’t arrived or they can’t compete in the market with this price. And then you’re putting out them fires throughout the day. It’s quite rewarding because all you do is help people and it’s not always the same people. I think we tie all the departments together within my role.
you know, so we’re integral cog within the business, we keep things turning around. So for me, I think, yeah, just the difference of each day, I think it keeps it from being boring, if I’m honest. I’ve had a lot of roles where you go in, you know exactly what you’re going to do 9 till 5 P.m and then you go home and then you do the same the next day. Whereas here, it’s every day is interesting speaking to someone different, you’ve got a different problem to solve. So yeah, I think they’re my probably two favourite things.
Brogan Neve
Yeah, perfect. What skills do you think women would bring into the industry that would be overlooked?
Jade Andrews
I would definitely say, for me, I would say project management, I think. Just because I think a lot of women in this industry I speak to are very good at managing timelines.
I think women in leadership roles bring excellent organisational multitasking skills. Definitely attention to detail. I think that detail is quite vital in construction. So women definitely for me tend to excel in environments where precision is important. I think we spot things that potentially may have been overlooked or missed, and…
And then probably problem solving as well. I think women are quite good at multitasking. They’re quite good at having 100 things on the go and being able to manage them and definitely being able to adapt to different problems, I think, and overcoming unexpected challenges.
That’s what I find with the women that I work with within the industry. I think they’re definitely very organised, very level-headed professionals and they definitely bring a professional aspect to the industry. I think historically I would say that in some situations, I’ve been within the industry, it’s not very professional. And that’s nothing to the industry. It’s just the way it has been for the past 60, 70 years. You know, a lot of independent builders, merchants, they don’t have a safety department. They have just one person at head office.
They don’t have the external support the way it’s going now, especially for growing builders merchants who are trying to take a larger market share, they are implementing more departments in terms of you have a marketing department now, you have a health and safety department and things are having to become more professional when you’re dealing with suppliers or you’re speaking to other the builders merchants and you’re in that kind of environment where you’re at an award ceremony, I think then things need a more professional approach and I think that the women can bring that within this industry, especially women who have worked elsewhere and understand different aspects of a business, they’re well, they’re able for them to bring that into a new business. So I think they’re kind of the key points really that I see from women I work with in those merchants.
Brogan Neve
I like seeing how, I mean, especially in the recruitment part, we seem to place a lot more women now. So I’ve been here since 2024 and I’ve noticed the change of how many women that are on our database or how many women were actually contacting or how many even contacting us looking for a role. It’s nice to see that it’s actually
Jade Andrews
coming to fruition. Yeah. For me, a woman shouldn’t be hired because they’re a woman. A woman should be hired because they’re the right job, but it’s given them the right for the job, sorry, but it’s given them the tools or the pathway to be able to find these opportunities. I think that’s the issue for me. I think they’re heavily targeted towards males and whether that’s even just simple things such as a job description, making a female be able to look at it and think, oh, I can apply for that, I have them skills. And it’s like we say it’s making women aware that, you know, you don’t have to be an electrician or a roofer to be able to work in a roofing merchant or an electrical wholesaler. You can be a woman and these are the core skills, whether you’re man or female that you need. And it’s nothing to do with gender. I think they’re the most important things for me is giving the women the opportunity, the same opportunities as men, and then the person who is the most skilled or with the most experience or they believe is best at the job then gets that job.
Brogan Neve
Yeah, no, exactly. What advice would you give to a young woman that’s going to consider a career in construction?
Jade Andrews
I would just say to…
Just basically take the bull by the horns and if that’s the role you want to do, then do it because I think don’t be scared. I would say the biggest thing is to be confident. I think you can walk into a room with 10 males, they’re all quite strong, they’re all quite alpha males and it’s very common within this industry.
And don’t shy away from that. I think even if you don’t feel confident, you’ve got to look confident. I think them kind of things in this industry is very important, especially in my role. You’ve got to be confident in decision making. You’ve got to be confident in what you’re saying, especially when you’ve got 160 million turnover company and you’re providing the products for the branches to sell, you’ve got to be confident that you’re making the right decision of if that product is the right price or that product is correct.
So I would say definitely, definitely apply for the job. If you don’t think that it suits you, still apply because I can guarantee as soon as you’re in that interview and you’re actually speaking face to face to whether it’s HR or your line manager, potential line manager, I think you’ll actually realise that it’s a really nice environment to work in and you are at disadvantage in the industry. I’ve always been nervous for interviews as anyone is when they go.
My job at Baton Roofing, I actually thought, that’s not, I don’t think that’s the right job for me. When I got approached, I thought, oh, I don’t know roofing, it’s quite scary. And when I went to the interview, I thought, oh, no, actually, I can fit into this role. Like, I definitely have the skills for this role. So I think it’s just take the first step, take the first step and see what happens and if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out but I think it’s just having that confidence to take the leap to not be worried that you don’t know the categories or that you don’t know what a hammer is or what a membrane is them things don’t necessarily matter for the job that you’re applying for. So yeah, I think just be brave and confident is probably the best advice I can give.
Brogan Neve
Yeah. Now, going on to your younger self, if you could look back in time and give yourself a piece of career advice, what would it be?
Jade Andrews
Mm.
Oh gosh, I feel like I’ve done so much in my short life. I would just say, if I could give up, I would just say believe in yourself. I think I sometimes get imposter syndrome and I think, oh, you know, I can’t do this. You know, I’ve been given an activity to do by my director or I’ve doubted myself that I’m not good enough. And I think when I then have the confidence to believe in myself, I assure myself that I actually am good enough and I don’t need to doubt myself. You know, you’re exposed, I personally am exposed to a lot more than I was, I would say, five years ago in terms of dealing with directors and dealing at a higher level than I was previously. And if I’d have seen myself five years ago, I’d have said I’m not capable of doing that, but I already had the skills there. I think it was just that confidence aspect.
So as soon as you believe in yourself, I think you can start achieving great things. If you’re already telling yourself, which I’ve done so many times, I can’t do it, you’re probably going to find ways to not be able to do it. So I think it’s just overcoming that for me. And I’ve definitely, I would say in the past year, I started to believe I’m more capable and whether I actually have the skills set or not to do that, I’ve put my mind to it and I’ve achieved whatever I wanted to achieve. So yeah, I think just to believe in myself and have the confidence in my ability, that’s probably the biggest thing for me.
Brogan Neve
What’s one achievement in your career so far that you are particularly proud of?
Jade Andrews
Ooh.
Gosh.
I would, I would probably say, for me, is…
When I started at MKM, I had to negotiate trade agreements. I only started about two months before that. I had no idea of my categories. I had no product knowledge. I’ve never worked in a builders merchant. Yeah, I’ve worked in construction, but it’s very different. I didn’t know any of my supply chain.
And I had to negotiate all of our trading agreements. I think I had about 40 suppliers, which was a lot, you know, I was young, I think I was about 26. And I think my biggest achievement was actually getting X value out of them agreements. I think it was about 400,000 pounds saving over the year. And to be able to do that and have the confidence to go in and act like I knew what I was talking about was such an achievement because it was scary. I didn’t know these suppliers. I didn’t really have any leverage over them because I’d only been there what, three months.
So definitely I would say for me was having the confidence to believe in myself and to stick to what I thought I knew and definitely then challenge suppliers on their proposals and get a gain for the business and definitely a gain that we could actually see. You do a lot in this job of little decisions that are actually to the end user or to someone who’s asked for that, they don’t see it. It’s a little cog, you know, in the machine and you’re doing, I don’t know, you’ve done this full deal and yeah, the branches see it, but do they actually does anyone actually notice them little things you do?But when it comes to negotiations and renegotiating trade agreements and rebates at the end of the year, the company looks definitely at them results. And you know, they’re very important for the success of the next year. If you’re getting X amount of rebate, that then goes into the port that can at the end help the branches trading margin or help the company be able to hire BDMs or whatever it may be. So I think for me my biggest achievement is that I then got put on a negotiation course about six months later.
But to do that without any real experience of negotiating with a lot of people who have been in the industry 40 years, 30 years, it was scary, but I’m proud of myself for doing it and going out there with confidence, I think, and then getting the result.
Brogan Neve
Yeah, no, you should be proud of yourself. You’ve done really well. That is all of my questions. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to do this. I really appreciate it.
Jade Andrews
You’re welcome
