International Women's Day: Polypipe CGU's Emma Springer on her career and female representation in the construction sector

Ahead of International Women’s Day on 8th March, we sat down with Polypipe Civils & Green Urbanisation’s very own Finance Director, Emma Springer, to talk about her career journey and her thoughts on female representation in our industry.  

Emma joined the Polypipe CGU team in 2017, when she took on an Interim Finance Manager role. At the end of her stint in that role, Emma was offered a permanent position with more of a focus on financial planning and analysis. When the business went through a period of change (to create four divisions, now our three business units) in 2019, she was offered her current role of Finance Director of Polypipe Civils & Green Urbanisation, making her one of the first women to be appointed into a non-HR senior role in the whole of Group.

So, what does Emma’s day-to-day look like? “I’m sure people think that finance is really boring,” she jokes, “A large part of my role is having responsibility for all the financial compliance, making sure that everybody across the business is aware of the control framework that we work in, so I have to understand all of the internal and external controls that we have to work to, that’s probably where the ‘finance is boring’ perception comes from. 

“But for me, finance is about the business and what makes it tick, the finance function should be the hub of the business because to be successful in supporting the business we need to reach out across every department, to all the different areas. Somebody described it really nicely to me the other day and it’s like a jigsaw – you’re trying to slot all of the pieces together to give yourself the best result and work in the most effective way so I think we’re uniquely placed in that we have the opportunity to see right across the business and obviously you then need the awareness of any external circumstances and the world in general – anything that might impact on your business.  

“I’m really lucky,” she says, “I do a job that I really enjoy – and I’m sure there’ll be non-finance people cringing at that one – but I’ve always needed to know how and why things work. For me, it’s being able to sit across the business, talk to all the different people involved, see how everything works together, to arrive at the point where you pull it into a plan and try and predict the future! It’s very much that finger on the pulse element, and the involvement with everyone.” 

As the conversation shifts to focus on female representation in our industry, Emma reflects on her goals as a teen and how those attitudes are different today: “Back when I left school, I wanted to go into the building trade because my Dad was a builder and so were a lot of my family, and it was something that I thought I would actually really enjoy, being very hands-on on site, too. When I went for an interview for a placement, I was told ‘we don’t take women, we just don’t deal with them, we don’t have them on site. How would you cope?’, and one guy said to me ‘well there’s no toilet so what are you going to do all day?’ and it’s things like that, certainly the attitude towards women has changed significantly in construction. I think it’s potentially still one of the more conservative sectors that you could work in, and there’ll be areas that women are more prevalent, and I can imagine that being on site, like I wanted to do, is perhaps something that’s still a rarity.  

“Joining Polypipe, I came from a business that had a lot of female senior leaders so, in my head, I didn’t really think about any barriers in that sense, when first coming into Polypipe I did feel initially that it was a very male-dominated environment, although I can see a clear shift in the time I’ve been here. 

“I think International Women’s Day is good, but we’re talking about inclusivity and equity and that’s about more than just women. Whilst, yes, we have had some challenges on the way, now we need to think about giving everybody that leg up, understanding different perspectives on life and different experiences. It’s about being accepting of people. Another big thing is listening, communication is as much about listening as talking. Really listening can help in picking up on the unsaid things, so that we can support people where we need to.” 

On women that have influenced her, Emma says: “There’s no one specifically. For me, it’s that I grew up with broad horizons - my parents were very much ‘you can go out and do whatever you want and achieve anything you set your mind to’, no preconceptions, expectations or barriers to what I could achieve. That’s quite a strong foundation to come from. 

“When I came into finance – I came into finance quite late and dropped into it by accident – I was quite lucky that, where I worked, there was very much a culture of, if you stuck your head up and showed interest, you’d be mentored. There were two particularly strong female managers within finance that were more than happy to mentor anyone who wanted to develop. So I feel really lucky to have people who really enjoyed sharing their knowledge – I think that’s key, and has stayed with me, it’s such a powerful thing to be able to share knowledge and see others develop. 

“Anyone who wants to work in finance, needs a really overdeveloped sense of curiosity, you must need to know why. We should have our finger on the pulse, and maybe a bit of stubbornness too, so that you can stand your ground when you need to. Finance is about more that crunching numbers, it's about understanding the business and the challenges it faces to be able to offer insight and guidance, really partnering with the business. 

“However, what is key to developing these skills is passion. If you are a passionate accountant, these skills are easy to learn. If you are not passionate about your job, your company, and what you are trying to achieve, no amount of training can help you. You need to want to make a difference in order to add value.”