Wickes Talks Women In DIY

Ahead of International Women’s Day, Wickes is celebrating its female employees and female driven initiatives that are helping to drive policy change at the DIY retailer.

This year, Wickes is putting the spotlight on Claire Skinner. Starting her career at 16, Claire has worked at the home improvement retailer for over two decades and is one of the 30% of females in senior leadership roles at Wickes.

Becoming a deputy manager at 21, after the birth of her second child in 2017, Claire was offered a flexible role.

Claire shares her thoughts below on being a woman in the DIY industry: 

“The main reason I remained a Deputy Manager for such a long time was Imposter Syndrome. I remember literally standing outside the meeting room and looking through the window, the room was entirely made up of male Store Managers and felt quite hostile. There was nobody who looked like me in there and I felt like it was something I didn’t need to put myself through.

Having a female Regional Leader helped me as she would challenge and push me to believe in myself and get comfortable feeling uncomfortable.”

“I worked as a Store Manager 3 days a week and am now back to working 4 days a week. It’s perfectly possible to do my job more flexibly and outside of the traditional 5 days a week. Upskilling my team and allowing them to do their job in full unlocked so many opportunities for both myself and them.

The loyalty that breeds when you are given the opportunity to do your best for everyone is immense. I wouldn’t leave now, even for more money. I wouldn’t get what I have here at Wickes anywhere else”

Women in a senior leadership role at Wickes 

• Female store manager population has grown by 16% since 2015, now standing at 20% as of June 2022.
• The population of store & operations managers in 2022 saw 241 female leaders.

Source: Wickes