My name is Ankie Houwen. I’m a Dutch national and have been living and working in the UK for several years. I currently work as Head of Supply Chain for Etex Building Performance UK & Ireland, where I lead an organisation of around 100 people across customer service, planning, logistics and warehousing.
I joined Etex in 2018 as a buyer at our site in Delfzijl in the Netherlands. Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to work in a variety of roles across the Etex group in the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK, gradually working my way up to the leadership role I’m in today.
I originally studied law and started my career at a law firm, which was very much female-dominated. After six years, I moved into a very different environment and spent a couple of years working for an engineering company in procurement and later operations. That was a highly technical and male-dominated industry, perhaps even more so than construction. My colleagues were mainly men and, to be honest, they were great to work with.
I’m quite direct and straight to the point, so I actually found that my communication style was well appreciated. The bigger challenge came from suppliers. At the time, I was in my twenties, and it was clear that some of the people sitting across the table from me were not used to dealing with a young woman in that role. I often felt I wasn’t taken seriously.
When I moved into the construction industry with Etex, things improved. Suppliers were generally very professional, and I can only recall one colleague making some inappropriate comments. Overall, I’ve felt respected and supported, and I also had a very warm welcome when moving to the UK. I’ve never felt an outsider here as a foreigner.
With time and experience, I also became more confident in speaking up. Not just for myself, but for other women too, when I see behaviour that treats us differently or unfairly. One example is something that happened last year at an industry event. A woman around my age had just been announced as a new committee member in a senior role. Later that evening, I was chatting with her and a male committee member, who commented on how pleased they were “to finally have a young woman on board” and how it was helping them “be more diverse.”
I responded by saying, “I think you mean you chose her because she’s smart and the best person for the job.” He seemed genuinely oblivious to what his comment implied. For me, that moment perfectly illustrates why there is still work to do. Even well-intentioned comments can frame women’s achievements around what we represent, rather than what we contribute.
I didn’t deliberately choose the construction industry — it happened through a recruiter, and I thought, why not? I’ve loved it ever since. I enjoy walking around our factories and warehouses, seeing our products being made and shipped, and I still can’t help pointing out our purple boards when I see them on buildings and saying, “We make that.”
I’m very proud of our Supply Chain organisation. Women are well represented across customer service, but also in planning and logistics, they are in the majority. I’m a strong believer that women shouldn’t limit themselves by avoiding industries labelled as male dominated. I’ve always felt supported at Etex.
I was able to grow my career and am given a lot of freedom launching and supporting new initiatives. One example is a reverse mentoring programme I introduced, which has been a great way to challenge perspectives and encourage learning in both directions. Together with Hayley Williams, our Finance Director, I’m also a proud sponsor of our employee-led Women Inclusion Network, which was set up last year.
The only area where we don’t currently have any women is in our warehouses – something I’m hopeful will change. I’ve decided the best place to start is with myself, so I’m determined to get my forklift certificate and experience the role first-hand. It will also come in handy for my latest passion project: organising a Forklift Championship for our operators. And who knows, maybe it’ll inspire a few women to consider a career in warehousing, too.
