PPG Refinish UK & Ireland host APB Women’s Automotive meeting at Williams F1 Centre

Forty-nine women from across the automotive industry gathered at the Williams F1 Conference centre on Wednesday 8^th June 2016 for the quarterly Women’s Automotive meeting.

PPG, who are proud sponsors of the Williams Grand Prix Engineering team, supplied both the venue and catering for this event, which provided the opportunity to share best practice, network and hear from a range of speakers.

Claire Sherwood, HR Director for PPG Refinish EMEA, kicked the meeting off with her presentation on the values of PPG and the actions that have been taken to ensure its 46,000 employees around the world feel valued and connected. Topics covered included the importance in PPG of Operational Excellence, Innovation, Health & Safety, Employee Wellness, Community Projects and Diversity.

Claire continued to speak about PPG’s focus on Diversity and Inclusion, stating that “everybody should have the opportunity to succeed”, with one of the EMEA teams main focuses being on plugging the gender gap and appointing more females into senior positions particularly within commercial roles. She spoke about the importance of inclusion and the impact that can be made to a business through employee engagement and if simple steps are put into place the percentage of female employees retained in the business will go up.

PPG Refinish EMEA have set out a variety of steps to help achieve the growth of female employees within the industry. These steps include looking at ways to attract females to the industry, creating more opportunity for women in the business and ensuring career pathways are set and supported.

The presentation was then closed with a short Q & A session, where Claire was asked “What dropout rate do PPG get following maternity leave?” Claire stated that PPG strive to support all employees and aim to change the culture of the industry by providing flexible solutions to woman returning from maternity where it’s practical, stating “It’s not where you are, it’s what you deliver”.

The second presentation was led by Sarah Schofield, Employment Solicitor from Glaisyers who spoke about the National Living Wage legislation along with changes to the EU working time directive. Sarah followed this up with a number of Employment Law case examples which promoted a high level of discussion within the room.

Following a short networking lunch Paul Buckingham, Sales Director at ACIS gave his thoughts on the current climate of the market then moved on to an overview of the ACIS solutions.

Following the meeting all delegates were invited to tour and view the largest private collection of Formula One cars in the world. The Williams Grand Prix Collection charts the team’s 30+ years of motor racing history.

PPG would like to thank ABP and the Women’s Automotive for arranging such a successful meeting.