Sackers Ltd. commits to gender equality

Ipswich, United Kingdom-based Sackers Ltd. says it has signed a gender equality business pledge set up by Suffolk Business Women, an organization operating in its home region. The company says its commitment helped the effort reach 100 signatories.

Suffolk Business Women is part of the Suffolk Chamber of Commerce that describes its mission as “to facilitate the contributions of women in business and wider public life to the economic and social prosperity of the county.”

Businesses of all sizes and in all sectors in Suffolk are encouraged to sign the pledge to demonstrate a commitment to working toward supporting gender equality in the region.

Suffolk Chamber of Commerce Chairperson Michelle Pollard says, “More and more companies accept that they do have to change the way that they attract female candidates into certain roles and sectors. Research has proven time and time again that a more diverse workforce has been shown to encourage a wider variety of ideas and improve a company’s profitability.”

Sackers says its senior management team is made up of 50 percent men and 50 percent women. Among the women employees is Helen Crapnell, who is part of the company’s senior management team and is a board member of Suffolk Business Women.

“Regardless of size, location or sector, employing female personnel is no doubt good for business,” says Crapnell. “It’s about what skills an individual brings to the business, not what sex they are. Despite working in a male-dominated environment, I cannot stress how supportive Sackers has been in my career here. I’m told regularly by David [Sackers Managing Director David Dodds] that as long as I get the job done, he doesn’t mind when or where I do it. To have that at the back of my mind creates trust and loyalty, but I do the job when I am most efficient and have the freedom to do it well and you go the extra mile. That holds its weight in gold. They really do value the work-life balance, so I’m pleased that we’ve signed this pledge, as it represents the company’s commitment to women like me in business.”

Remarks Clare Lanchester, a shipping manager at Sackers, “With two children under five, it is difficult to work full-time conventional office hours. Sackers Ltd. is very family-oriented and allows me to work around childcare needs. Without this flexibility, I would not be able to have the career I have today.”

Dodds says, “At Sackers, gender equality is high on our priority list. I would never hesitate to employ women in business, and our management team is made up of 50 percent women and 50 percent men. We do lack women in our manual roles, but this is not for any other reason than that the applicants are male. It would be nice to see more women applying and being successful in our manual labor roles and driver roles, too. Gender shouldn’t come into recruitment at all. Personally, I would recruit on attitude even over qualifications. If you have the right attitude, you can be taught anything.”

He continues, “We are a family business and that is a priority for us in our culture to support our staff and their families. This doesn’t just include women—all staff are supported in flexible working where their job allows it, to fit around their family needs. Happy families mean happy staff and that’s where you get productivity.”

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The gender equality business pledge commits a signatory organization to do several things, including “acknowledging that business cannot reach its full potential unless it can benefit from the talents of all” and “acknowledging that advancing gender equality demands commitment and action from all levels of the organization, and in particular active leadership from those in senior roles.”

Sackers buys and processes aluminum, copper and other scrap metal, and it operates a commercial waste and recycling hauling business unit.