Businesswoman from Milton Keynes wins national engineering award

Milton Keynes businesswoman Ruth Devine has won the Skills Champion of the Year Award at the prestigious Enginuity Skills Awards.

The annual event is dedicated to finding new ways to close UK engineering and manufacturing skills gaps. It celebrates people and organisations, championing skills development in engineering and manufacturing.

Ruth, managing director at SJD Electrical, was recognised for her dedication to supporting engineering skills development, both at SJD Electrical and beyond.

Ruth, who was nominated In the Skills Champion of the Year category, impressed the judges with the time she dedicates to championing electrotechnical skills and encouraging more women into the sector.

Ruth takes on many voluntary roles focused on improving the industry’s skills. She is chair of The Electrotechnical Skills Partnership (TESP) and The Electrical Contractors’ Association’s (ECA) Skills Committee.

She’s a founder member of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education’s (IfATE) Construction Route Panel and is active within the Construction Leadership Council and the UK government’s Construction Skills Delivery Group (CSDG).

As TESP chair, Ruth set up electricalcareers.co.uk to provide trusted advice for anyone seeking a career as an electrician; created the ‘Rogue Trainers’ campaign to highlight the mis-selling of training that doesn’t result in industry recognised qualifications; and launched ‘Industry into Education’, a campaign that encourages employers to inspire people to join the industry.

As a businesswoman in a still male-dominated sector, Ruth has used her voice to challenge stereotypes and provoke action on the challenges women can face in the sector.

She works with local schools and colleges to engage more young women in electrical careers, helping careers advisers understand the industry and break down stereotypes. Ruth regularly speaks at national events to highlight the importance of inclusive behaviours and culture change, while encouraging her own female employees to step up as visible role models.

She is an also an advocate for the importance of electrotechnical skills for a net zero future, promoting this at industry events and on podcasts.

Ruth said: “I’m quite determined and driven to see positive change. Often being the only small employer in a room with government or and industry leaders, its important my voice gets heard. There’s been a lot of reform in the past ten years and a lot of reform coming and I’m determined to help see that through.

“I like helping policy work better for employers in the economy. I’m not afraid to be challenging, in a constructive way, and I like bringing people together who wouldn’t normally collaborate. We need to work together as an industry, rather than having competing interests.”

Andrew Eldred, Director of Workforce & Public Affairs at The Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA) said: “What Ruth has contributed to the industry is remarkable in terms of the range of what she does and different levels at which she operates. Just from an ECA point of view, she’s the chairman

of our Skills Committee, which exists to support employers in delivering high value, high quality training for their employees. But Ruth goes beyond that. She also engages at an industry level, working with awarding bodies, training providers and the government.”