Interview with Faye Allen, charted quantity surveyor and advocate for change in construction

Faye Allen is a chartered quantity surveyor and Fellow of the RICS, a RICS Accredited Expert Witness, a Practising Member of the Academy of Experts, a Freeman of the City of London, member of the Worshipful Company of Arbitrators, Global Steering Committee member of the Equal Representation of Expert Witnesses (ERE) and Patron of WITBE GLOBAL Women in the Built Environment.

With over thirty years in construction, Faye brings deep industry knowledge from two decades working with contractors on major projects as a quantity surveyor and commercial manager.

Alongside her work, Faye’s passion is to improve the world for women and men alike. She campaigns for change to improve the representation of women in the industry and for people to work together to improve the culture so that everyone in construction can win. This is the theme of her new book, Building Women, launched on the 4 June.

What’s your career background?

I am a chartered quantity surveyor and Fellow of the RICS, a RICS Accredited Expert Witness, and a Practising Member of the Academy of Experts. I have over thirty years of experience working in construction, having worked for two decades with contractors on major projects as a quantity surveyor and commercial manager. Later, I moved into consultancy and specifically into the dispute avoidance and resolution side of the industry.

Alongside my work, I am passionate about improving the world for women and men alike, campaigning for change to improve the representation of women in the industry and for people to work together to improve the culture. As part of this, I am a Global Steering Committee member of the Equal Representation of Expert Witnesses (ERE) and Patron of WITBE GLOBAL Women in the Built Environment.

Over the past four years, I have spent all my spare time writing a book to bring to light the issues women face in the industry and provide practical advice to women and men to enable the culture of the industry to be improved for everyone.

What’s your USP?

Whilst I don’t own my own business, I am the author of the new book, Building Women, launched on the 4 June! When it comes to my book, my USP is the fact that I have lived experience in the construction industry over the past 30 years. From the side of both contractors and subcontractors working on site building projects, to the consulting side where I now work on disputes on both live projects and completed projects.

This gives me a unique perspective, allowing me to speak from a place of knowledge of how women are treated in the industry. Due to my reach and contacts, this has enabled me to speak to and interview over 1,000 other women in the industry. Discussing what the industry is like to work in for women, and more so, what we need to do to make the industry more inclusive for women.

Over and above this, I also care about men in the industry. UK construction has terrible mental health statistics for men and extremely high suicide rates, meaning the culture needs to be fixed to make it better for everyone.

Who’s your target audience?

Women and men in construction, construction companies, and consultancies. Anyone and everyone working in and around the construction industry, from the sole trader working on site to the large Tier 1 main contractor.

How do you spread the word about what you do?

I speak at events regularly, I post on LinkedIn and work in the industry, ensuring my values and motivations are clear to everyone I am in contact with. I also really enjoy sparking conversations and debates to discuss difficult issues and bring people’s awareness to the biases we can all have. Allowing them to consider new perspectives and go out and change how they act, react and spread the word, creating that ripple of change with others.

Values are important, and I think you have to live your values both in and out of work, so I also have these conversations with friends and family.

What’s been the biggest obstacle you’ve had to overcome?

Sexism and harassment in an industry that is predominantly male. I have suffered sexual assault and bullying throughout my career, and it is part of the reason I started writing my book, Building Women. I love the industry and all it can offer career-wise; however, I got to the stage where I couldn’t continue talking in schools and colleges about the great careers it can offer if I did not work to create a safe and inclusive culture where women in particular are not treated the way I have been.

And your proudest moment so far?

I have many proud moments in my career and life, but I think finishing my book after 3.5 years of writing in my spare time and annual leave. Having spoken to over 1,000 women in industry and hundreds of women and men out of industry, in my mission to improve the industry for everyone.

Why is work so important to you?

I love my work, and I enjoy the variety it offers. The fact is, construction is all around us in everything; it’s in the places we walk, the methods in which we travel, it’s where we live, work and visit, and it offers so many different careers from manual tradespeople to brilliant engineers.

I truly believe we have to enjoy work as we spend so much time there and its again part of the reason I started writing my book so that I could ensure that other people in the industry, particularly women can enjoy the career opportunities on offer without the toxic behaviours so many of us have encountered.

Who inspires you?

There are a number of people who inspire me. My dad is always one who I’ve looked up to, even though we used to fight like cats and dogs when I was a teen! He always worked so hard and taught me so much, getting me interested in the industry.

My first boss, Gary Mumford, has always inspired me with his leadership style and support. So much so that I secretly put him up for an inspirational award that he later won when I was a young quantity surveyor!

Then there are more well-known people like Nelson Mandela, who taught so much about forgiveness and kindness. Or strong women like Taylor Swift or Delilah Bon, who, despite the toxic hate they can get, create amazing music and sing about things that matter often to women.

More recently, I think Gisele Pelicot inspired me, with her strength and courage to truly show how, despite the awful abuse she suffered, she was still going to openly ensure everyone knew what had happened so her abusers were held to account.

What are your three top pieces of advice for someone wanting to do something similar?

1) Be curious

Every day is a school day! Our mind is made to learn, and we become better by being curious and continuing to learn and evolve. Ask the questions, read the books, contact the person you saw, and say something interesting at a seminar or on social media. We improve ourselves by being open to learning, and to do that, we need to have the curiosity of a child. Somewhere along the way, many people lose that ability, but it’s a gift.

2) Be brave

Life is a journey, and mine has definitely not been a straight line! It’s been haphazard at times, both personally, healthwise and in my career, but we have to keep going. Things will be scary, and things will happen along the way that throw you around and make you feel like giving up. Don’t. Even in the times that feel the darkest, remember we all have strength we sometimes do not know we have until faced with a challenge. Sometimes we have to take the step and walk into the fear anyway.

3) Learn to say No!

Boundaries are so important, and one of the hardest things I have had to learn is that it’s ok to say no. No is a complete sentence, and you do not need to explain yourself. If you want to work out on a Friday at 4 pm or do yoga on a Wednesday morning, make sure you put that boundary in place and do not let people push it. We are only here now, so use boundaries to make now what you want it to be.

With over thirty years in construction, Faye brings deep industry knowledge from two decades working with contractors on major projects as a quantity surveyor and commercial manager.