Women in maritime

This latest collaboration is among several initiatives that the port operator is running to encourage more women into the business after recognising that the marine sector needs to promote greater gender diversity.

“We are aware of the gender gap that exists across the maritime sector as a whole and, while we are actively working to make the industry more inclusive for women, we recognise that there is still much work to be done,” explained Charlotte Havers, senior HR advisor at Peel Ports.

“Partnering with like-minded organisations such as Innovate Her will help us to meet the challenges around diversity and inclusion at both a national and regional level. We aim to empower more young women with the confidence to complete STEM subjects and look forward to meeting some fantastic students, hopefully we can inspire them to consider careers in maritime.”

Based in the Northwest of England Innovate Her aims to equip more women with the skills and confidence to pursue STEM-related careers. It specialises in delivering education and coaching to young people and has been operating since 2013.

Peel Ports has signed up to the organisation’s Impact Her package, which will see the port group attend community learning and networking events, host masterclasses in schools and virtual forums, and support up to 600 female students across Liverpool.

The announcement comes after the port group signed the Women in Maritime Pledge, overhauled its on-site PPE to accommodate female workers and improved many of its employee-related procedures, including enhancing its maternity policy.