Meet the team: Amy Leachman

At Joseph Ash, we proud to be part of the Hill & Smith PLC Women’s Network, designed to empower and support women within the Company by fostering an inclusive environment that promotes professional development, raises awareness, and launches initiatives designed to promote equality in a traditionally male-dominated industry.

Amy Leachman, our Team Leader at Joseph Ash Walsall, is our representative for the Hill & Smith Women’s Network as well as our own Joseph Ash Women’s Network.

We had the opportunity to chat with Amy about her day-to-day role as Team Leader, as well as the role she plays as representative for the Networks.

Meet Amy Leachman

Role: Team Leader / Women’s Network Representative

Branch: Joseph Ash Walsall / Group

Started: September 2021

Favourites…

Food: Roast dinner

Film/TV show: Anything action and thrillers. Gone Girl, Leon, that sort of film are my go-to.

Pastime: Exploring new places and dancing.

Can you give an overview of your role?

I started at Joseph Ash as a temp for holiday cover in September 2021 and was taken on as a full-time member of staff from January 2022.

My current role is as the Team Leader for the sales and customer service department at Joseph Ash Walsall. I have a passion for customer service and enjoy dealing with issues to problem solve and find positive solutions for the customers moving forward.

A large portion of my time is spent helping the Commercial Manager with the division’s top accounts, building influential relationships that have helped put the division in good stead as being the supplier of choice for our customers.

Over the last 6 months I have also spent much of my time learning and beginning to understand the production and operational side of the business in more depth. I look up to Tracie, our Operations Manager at our Joseph Ash Telford site; I’d personally like to progress to such a role in the future to help boost the female representation in the Operational side.

The Operational side of our business is fascinating to me as there is so much to learn. I firmly believe having a clear understanding of these areas will help provide a cross over between sales/customer service and production/operations that can lead to a very successful all-round experience for the customer.

For me, learning new areas of the business has been eye-opening. I’ve had days where it has not been easy, but also had amazing days that have taught me so much and encouraged me to persist as there is a lot I can learn and offer.

The focus on efficiency and adapting for the future is of particular interest to me, so looking at these areas in more depth has been fascinating. I would like to continue to learn every aspect of the business in order to continue to grow at Joseph Ash, and potentially in the future progress to a management role.

Can you talk a bit about your career history before Joseph Ash?

Prior to Joseph Ash I have always worked in customer service roles within the Manufacturing industry, from window manufacturing to stair manufacturing, but in a part time capacity as I had young children. Joseph Ash is the first time I have worked full-time in over 10 years, but I now wouldn’t have that any other way and feel now my children are getting older it’s my time to strive and work on my own progression.

I’ve always worked in traditionally male-dominated industries, and believe it’s an industry you either love or is not for you, but I always knew it is the industry I wanted to continue my career in.

Why did you want to join Joseph Ash?

I came to Joseph Ash following being on furlough for an extended period of time at my previous company during the COVID pandemic. Originally, it was in a temporary role to provide holiday cover, but after being offered a permanent role, I knew – from getting to know the team, customers and processes over the previous few months – that it was a no-brainer and easy decision to say yes to joining the team here.

What do you enjoy about working at Joseph Ash?

I enjoy everything about working at Joseph Ash! The process itself is fascinating and amazing to learn the ins and outs of, but my favourite part of working at Joseph Ash is the people. The people from across all departments and divisions are fantastic. 

Can you talk about your role in the Joseph Ash/Hill & Smith Women’s Network?

In July 2023 I was put forward to be the Joseph Ash representative in the Hill & Smith Women’s Network. The network is made up of women and men from across all group companies in the UK, America and India. The network has spent the last 18 months meeting once a month and working on four key objectives aimed to inspire more women into a career within manufacturing and infrastructure; provide support and a community to our women; to meet and discuss barriers they face; and to share best practices and provide resources, tools and techniques to help women develop themselves.

As part of the objectives, three workstreams were presented to the Executive Board in April 2024 and have since been worked on and are now starting to be tested and rolled out to Group companies. These workstreams include Inclusive Mentoring, Inclusive Hiring Practices, and PPE designed to fit women. I’ve personally worked on the inclusive mentoring programme, sharing ideas and presenting this workstream to the Executive Board which was a new experience for me.

Being a part of the network has given me an insight into various aspects of the group companies, their functions and how they operate whilst also offering an insight into the challenges faced by other women.

We ourselves at Joseph Ash have now put together our own Women’s Network with a representative from all our divisions and Head Office, where we share information gained from the Hill & Smith Network and in turn share our ideas back with them. Having our own network gives us much better opportunities to assess what initiatives will make a difference to us and the women within our business whilst also allowing us to discuss ideas and potentially implement changes.  

What the company does to Accelerate Action towards women’s equality (the theme of this year’s IWD)?

The company’s ongoing commitment to the Women’s Network helps accelerate action by enabling us to address the barriers and biases women within the company face.  The initiatives developed within the Network have been fundamental in accelerating the group towards gender equality in a traditionally male-dominated environment.  

Are there any other Women’s Network initiatives you’d like to share, or are there any initiatives planned for the future that you can talk about?

I’d like to remind everyone, not only women, of the opportunity to join the two external networks we can access as part of the Women’s Network.

Women In Manufacturing and Women’s Engineering Society both offer extensive online resources including podcasts on various subjects, ranging from dealing with imposter syndrome to how to deal with difficult situations.

Is there anything you’d like to tell us, that we haven’t asked you?

Just that it is a privilege being a part of Joseph Ash and the Women’s Network. I feel passionately about ensuring women see their worth and are treated equally in such a male-dominated industry so it is a pleasure to be a part of.