188体育

Phil Craig, former Managing Director of Dounreay, scooped the coveted 鈥楢lly of the Year鈥� title at the Women in Nuclear (WiN) UK conference yesterday, for being a leading male advocate of gender balance and diversity.

Phil said it was an honour to have been recognised for putting people at the centre of the business:

I鈥檓 incredibly proud of all of the work that has been undertaken at Dounreay during my time there, specifically in relation to equality, diversity and inclusion.

All of this work, and the reason for this nomination, is because of the effort and commitment of the site staff, who are committed to delivering the mission but also to making a difference in the people agenda.

To have been part of that journey and to be recognised by them, is the most humbling part of all.

Gayle Rew, Chair of Magnox Women鈥檚 Network, scooped the 鈥楳ission Possible鈥� award for her help in building vital networks. Gayle said:

I am absolutely thrilled to have won the award and to gain the recognition for the progress that we have made in Magnox with our Women鈥檚 Network.

I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved since our first tentative steps two years ago, including hosting our own conference, raising awareness of the need for gender balance and growing our membership.

The WiN conference has been a great opportunity to meet with so many like-minded and inspirational people who are also working hard across our sector to improve gender balance and inclusion.

This year鈥檚 conference, held in London, focused on conscious inclusion. It saw workshop sessions and panel discussions including one with Anne Jenkins, Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at the NDA, and Nikos Adamidis from NDA, who picked up last year鈥檚 inaugural 鈥楢lly of the Year鈥� prize.

Anne said:

WiN members have worked hard to help build a culture of inclusion within the industry and the awards are testament to the passion and commitment of everyone involved.

This year鈥檚 conference theme of conscious inclusion highlights the importance of understanding that organisational culture plays a crucial part in attracting, developing and retaining talent.

Progress is being made, however, sustained culture change takes time and there鈥檚 still a long way to go, but WiN have once again shown their passion and energy to support the industry in its ambitions to be an inclusive place to work.

Currently only 22% of the UK鈥檚 nuclear industry is female, and this number declines significantly at senior levels. There is strong evidence to suggest that an inclusive environment, with diverse teams, leads to better performance.

Employees from across the NDA group were shortlisted in the award categories including Sellafield鈥檚 Stephen Bewsher and Radioactive Waste Management鈥檚 (RWM) Liam Payne, for 鈥楢lly of the Year鈥�, and Samantha King, of RWM, for 鈥楳ission Possible鈥�.

Prioritising diversity and inclusion issues has been a major focus within the NDA group over past year in a bid to future-proof the business by attracting and retaining the right people with the right skills.