A business leader is driving forward\u00a0a campaign to encourage more women to take up top roles in the automotive industry after being shocked by its lack of diversity.<\/p>\n
Laura Hall, the managing director of Maverick Diagnostics, based in Holt, near Wrexham, is a member of The Automotive 30% Club that\u2019s battling for a better gender balance in the sector.<\/p>\n
She will be outlining her crusade at the next meeting of the Wrexham Business Professionals organisation at the Maesgwyn Hall in Wrexham on Friday, June 27.<\/p>\n
The influential group is made up of successful businesses and skilled professionals working together to promote regional prosperity and shine a light on the enterprise and expertise that exists in the region.<\/p>\n
Ms Hall will also be talking about the support Maverick Diagnostics about how the company has invested in a training academy and the support it has received from the Development Bank of Wales.<\/p>\n
The firm last year received an investment of \u00a3100,000 from the bank to enable it to continue to grow the range of diagnostics tools and technical support it offers to vehicle workshops and garages throughout the UK.<\/p>\n
It was the second time that the company has had support from the development bank, having received a loan in April 2020 to help manage trading during the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
The other guest speaker will be Clwyd South MS Ken Skates, the Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales, who was instrumental in establishing the bank in\u00a0 Wrexham in 2017 when he was the Welsh Government\u2019s Economy Minister.<\/p>\n
Ms Hall leads a team of 14 staff at Maverick Diagnostics, a specialist vehicle diagnostic tool business based at Holt near Wrexham.<\/p>\n
Appointed as managing director in September 2023, her background\u00a0is not in the automotive industry but as a linguist in the gas and oil industry – another traditionally male-dominated sector.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cI studied Russian and German at university and worked in the oil and gas industry, so I went into a very technical, male-orientated environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then joining the automotive industry, I saw the gender imbalance almost immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cQuite early on I had gone to some industry event and the gender imbalance was shocking, there were so few women.The aftermarket industry is particularly bad.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went to some trade events early on and I was horrified, not only because there were very few women, but there was no real diversity whatsoever \u2013 it was all middle-aged white men.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a few women doing amazing things, especially in the bigger companies, but you realise quite quickly there is a huge imbalance.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was\u00a0encountering that imbalance which prompted Laura, a mum of two girls, to explore the work of The Automotive 30% Club.<\/p>\n
The club was founded in March 2016\u00a0with the aim of filling at least 30 per cent of key leadership positions with women by 2030.<\/p>\n
Laura\u00a0said joining the club had led to changes\u00a0at Maverick Diagnostics as it strives to create stronger diversity in its workforce.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cOne of the things we did was look at our recruitment process.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously we are very \u2018techy\u2019 and traditionally we only get men applying.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it\u2019s about looking at how you advertise jobs, thinking about why women would want to come and work with you.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is about how you\u00a0appear, it\u2019s even down to the wording in your job description.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is\u00a0a lot of research into this and we found women will apply for a job when they meet 100 per cent of the criteria whereas men will apply when they meet a third.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would seem men have the confidence\u00a0whereas it would appear women tend to be less self-confident.<\/p>\n
\u201cPart of it is\u00a0probably biological and part of it is probably because of society.\u201d<\/p>\n
Laura was also particularly proud of a training academy\u00a0Maverick Diagnostics has set up on Wrexham Industrial Estate to upskill local mechanics and technicians on the use of specialist diagnostic tools.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cCars now are becoming like computers on wheels and there are security gateways in place so you\u00a0can\u2019t just replace a headlight for example without having access through that security gateway.<\/p>\n
\u201cGeneric aftermarket diagnostic tools can do less and less these days so we offer the diagnostic tools specialist dealerships actually use.<\/p>\n
\u201cVehicle manufacturers want to keep their cars in the dealer network, they don\u2019t really want the aftermarket to have easy access to their specialist diagnostic tools, their tooling or their technical data.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe technology in cars now is so complex, it is beyond most of our capabilities because there is so much IT involved.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the brands are\u00a0different, they all have different requirements.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we do is help guide the independent workshop or garage through that journey.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ian Edwards from Wrexham Business Professionals said: \u201cBoth Laura and Ken will be hugely interesting speakers at our forthcoming meeting.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be fascinating to hear their views on the current economic challenges facing businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Louise Harper from the organisation said: \u201cWe would encourage businesses to attend the meeting and hear from Laura and Ken.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur meetings are always informative and present terrific networking opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n