Cath is an engineer at Amey UK, as well as a disability ambassador for the company and a strong advocate for inclusion and diversity.
Cath lost her left leg to bone cancer at the age of seven and came across many barriers when she first started work. Being not just a woman, but also a disabled woman, in a male-dominated industry was a challenge.
Cath is passionate about sharing her story in order to encourage other disabled people back into work. Cath herself was reliant on benefits until a few years ago, when a letter arrived from the DWP advising her that she was fit to work. While out of work, Cath was caring for her elderly parents and sister Angela, as well as studying for a degree in mechanical engineering ‘just for fun’!
When she applied for a post at Amey as a trainee technician, Cath did not expect to get the position, but was pleasantly surprised at the fair and equal treatment she received at the interview. She immediately knew then that she wanted to work for the company.
She now participates in a quarterly meeting with senior managers as a disabled advisor, to highlight any possible problems and to speak on behalf of all disabled employees of Amey. Cath regularly speaks and presents at events, promoting Amey as an inclusive company, and her next goal is to become a STEM ambassador. This will allow her to go into schools and colleges to promote inclusion to children, to encourage not only disabled people into engineering but women too.
Cath also has a blog to encourage other disabled people to contribute and to share their own stories. On the back of this, she has also been asked to write a book which is set to be published in the near future.
Amey, with a turnover of £2.2bn, employs 17,000 people internationally with a focus on the UK, but with businesses in Australia and America.
Our aim is to make the world a better place to live, work and travel. Designing, building, maintaining and investing in the UK’s services and infrastructure in partnership with our clients.
This means keeping core services running smoothly across the country: utilities, transport, engineering, justice, defence, environmental and waste services, and facilities management. These are underpinned by our leading consulting and asset management capabilities, which allow us to offer standalone or integrated service solutions to a range of clients.
Amey is owned by Ferrovial. They are one of the world’s leading infrastructure management and investment companies. Ferrovial has more than 96,000 employees and a presence in over 15 countries. It is a member of Spain’s blue-chip IBEX 35 index and is also included in prestigious sustainability indices such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and FTSE4Good. Ferrovial’s activities focus on four business sectors: construction, airports, toll roads and services. Amey is part of the Services division.
