Echo’s first live Impact event of 2025 held at Wilton Centre

Students from five colleges across the North East gathered to hear from a panel of women in lead roles in sectors including IT, engineering and housing at the Wilton Centre on Teesside.

The six panelists told of their personal journeys to success and urged the next generation to continue battling gender inequality in the workplace.

The event for the Impact campaign, run by the Northern Echo’s business arm, BUSINESSiQ, was opened with a keynote speech by Darlington’s Labour MP Lola McEvoy.

Panelists were Tania Cooper, MD of fabricator Steel Benders, Sarah Jones, Operations Engineer with bp, Rachel Cox, Director of Property Repairs with believe housing, Carolyn Boustead, business development manager with Cummins engineering, Emma Waller, finance director with IT services company razorblue and Chloe Homes, Head of Operations at Teesside International Airport.

Lola McEvoy issued a rallying call to the college students in the audience to fight inequality, which she says has particular relevance in the North East

She said: “For me, the equality agenda for our area is actually about the quality of opportunity and for a long time we’ve had a wage ceiling where no matter how much you work, you’re still going to be paid less than somebody in another part of the country doing the same job. 

“I am determined that we break that, but we need this next generation of women and girls to do that.”

She told the largely female audience: “I want the next generation of girls to take the bull by the horns and get into those male dominated industries, because that is where the opportunities are coming and the Government is determined to do it in this area. 

“The level of investment that’s coming down the line, the amount of people who want to build here and bring the jobs here, we’re doing better than every other part of the country in terms of business opportunities.

“So the opportunities are there, but I really want you to think about taking them. The Labour government has been elected for change and we’re all impatient to deliver it, but we cannot deliver the change that we need in this country without growth in our area, so the jobs will be here and I want you to be ready to take them.”

Tania Cooper told how she rose from earning £50 a week on the Youth Training Scheme as a trainee accountant to becoming a managing director in the male-dominated steel industry.

She told how she had to “fight for my wage” on learning that in a senior role for one company she was earning 30% less than some junior male counterparts.

Ms Cooper said: “You have to be strong, but if I’m really honest I don’t find it hard being in a man’s world, I’ve found it quite easy. It was really nice being the only woman in the room, no one forgot you that’s for sure. In the past we had a very strong female workforce but at management level it was all men.”

In a lively discussion one audience member asked: “Why are we still discussing equality in the workplace, isn’t this something that should be a given by now?”

Panel members were in agreement that it ought to be, but felt that there is still work to be done towards genuine gender equality.

Another audience member asked whether online trolling towards women had been a factor in their business lives.

Chloe Holmes replied: “This hatred that we see and read about in the media isn’t necessarily reflected in day to day life. From my own experience I’ve found that men in the workplace have shown respect towards female colleagues.”

Sarah Jones said tenacity has been a key factor in her achievements with BP.

She told the event: “In this industry, I actually noticed that the nearer you go to the process and the operations and the real activity, the fewer females you find.  And yet we add so much value. 

“People do remember you because often you’ll be the only female in the room.

“I’ve had a really good experience but there have been times when I have definitely needed a lot of tenacity to get through things that have been more challenging. ”

Rachel Cox’s first role with housing association believe housing was to input a pile of paperwork as an admin assistant.

Now Director of Property Repairs, she’s bringing through the next generation of women.

She said: “I now have a team of 300 and I have brought women through the sector as well. We have women in management, we have women team leaders, in fact we have more females than males in some of those teams.

“We have an internal programme to bring women through the trade workforce, the landscape looks very different from what it used to be.”

Carolyn Boustead, of Darlington-based Cummins engine plant, continued her career trajectory after having her family and told the event: “It’s alright to want it all.”

She said: “I chose to have family and try to balance a career. My mother did that as well, so I watched her do it. I could see that it was a massive challenge for her and luckily I’ve got a really great support network and my husband’s really supportive and my family are really supportive, but you have to think about how you’re going to get there, not just where you want to get. 

“So, very early on, I sat down with my husband, who knew I wasn’t just going to just do something traditionally. He knew I wanted to try and have it all. I think it’s alright to want to have it all. ”

Emma Waller of razorblue wants her success to inspire her daughter.

She said: “I have been at razorblue now since April 23. There was me and another lady there who were the only people in the finance team and we absolutely grafted, even if it was a Saturday night or a Sunday night, we were looking through CVs and we built this team.

“This time last year we went to the NECC and we won Finance Business Team of the Year with the team we created.

“I went home with my award and showed my little girl and said ‘look what Mammy’s done.’

Chloe Holmes began her career checking in luggage and saw her career take off as she went on to become manager of four terminals at Heathrow.

She moved back to her native north to become Head of Operations at Teesside Airport where she said there is a roughly 50/50 split between men and women on the senior leadership team.

Ms Holmes said: “We’re trying to break the mould but there are still a lot of women sitting on check-in and it’s our job – and we really do try – to make sure these women have the opportunities to head out and apply from maybe some unconventional roles.”

She added: “It doesn’t mean it has to be a woman because it’s a woman, but we do bring something different to the table and there is a ying and yang to the way we work alongside men.”