Our very own Cerys Williams has been shortlisted at the Women in Housing Awards. We always knew that Cerys was a hero, but now it is official!

 

 

The awards are part of Housing 2021, the Chartered Institute of Housing conference and awards event backed by Ocean Media and Inside Housing. Cerys is a finalist in the professional of the year category.

Professional is only one way to describe Cerys. She stands, often very assertively, at the centre of the most important initiatives that Sero is involved with – all of them linked to changing and improving the lives of people across Wales. Her role as Innovation Manager doesn’t cover what she does for us, our team, partners and customers – often working on two or three major projects simultaneously.

She’s an inspiration to all of us – walking and talking the values of the business whether it is supporting our role with the Coalition for the Energy Efficiency of Buildings through the Green Finance Institute or driving the VALUER research project to identify and quantify the value differences between high and low energy efficient properties. Cerys is at the heart of the successful Optimised Retrofit Programme, and she is responsible for managing partnerships with key stakeholders, coordinating, cajoling and encouraging cross-sector collaboration in finance, SME and procurement, community, and sector-specific research.

Cerys is just one of many housing heroes on the Sero team and she is a great inspiration to the rest of us. She combines a passion for zero carbon living with her family and really lives our values. We’re keeping our fingers crossed she is a winner when the awards ceremony happens on the 7th of September.

Cerys being shortlisted is great news for her, but also a reward for the Sero team and its culture.

We aim to be champions of diversity and inclusivity as well as zero carbon living. Right now, 37% of our team are women, which is 13% higher than the technology sector and three times higher for the construction sector (we have a foot in both business sectors!). We can do better, but we are already showing the wider construction industry what is possible. Cerys’ nomination and awards like these will help promote housing, and construction as a whole as a real career for everyone – regardless of gender, ability and background. With Cerys and others like her in our team we hope to inspire likeminded people to join our team and create a zero-carbon society.