A BUSINESS leader is driving forward a campaign to encourage more women to take up top roles in the automotive industry after being shocked by its lack of diversity.
Laura Hall, the managing director of Maverick Diagnostics, based in Holt, near Wrexham, is a member of The Automotive 30% Club that’s battling for a better gender balance in the sector.
She will be outlining her crusade at the next meeting of the Wrexham Business Professionals organisation at the Maesgwyn Hall in Wrexham on Friday, June 27.
The influential group is made up of successful businesses and skilled professionals working together to promote regional prosperity and shine a light on the enterprise and expertise that exists in the region.
Ms Hall will also be talking about the support Maverick Diagnostics about how the company has invested in a training academy and the support it has received from the Development Bank of Wales.
The firm last year received an investment of £100,000 from the bank to enable it to continue to grow the range of diagnostics tools and technical support it offers to vehicle workshops and garages throughout the UK.
It was the second time that the company has had support from the development bank, having received a loan in April 2020 to help manage trading during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The other guest speaker will be Clwyd South MS Ken Skates, the Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales, who was instrumental in establishing the bank in Wrexham in 2017 when he was the Welsh Government’s Economy Minister.
Ms Hall leads a team of 14 staff at Maverick Diagnostics, a specialist vehicle diagnostic tool business based at Holt near Wrexham.
Appointed as managing director in September 2023, her background is not in the automotive industry but as a linguist in the gas and oil industry – another traditionally male-dominated sector.
She said: “I studied Russian and German at university and worked in the oil and gas industry, so I went into a very technical, male-orientated environment.
“And then joining the automotive industry, I saw the gender imbalance almost immediately.
“Quite early on I had gone to some industry event and the gender imbalance was shocking, there were so few women. The aftermarket industry is particularly bad.
“I went to some trade events early on and I was horrified, not only because there were very few women, but there was no real diversity whatsoever – it was all middle-aged white men.
“There are a few women doing amazing things, especially in the bigger companies, but you realise quite quickly there is a huge imbalance.”
It was encountering that imbalance which prompted Laura, a mum of two girls, to explore the work of The Automotive 30% Club.
The club was founded in March 2016 with the aim of filling at least 30 per cent of key leadership positions with women by 2030.
Laura said joining the club had led to changes at Maverick Diagnostics as it strives to create stronger diversity in its workforce.
She said: “One of the things we did was look at our recruitment process.
“Obviously we are very ‘techy’ and traditionally we only get men applying.
“So it’s about looking at how you advertise jobs, thinking about why women would want to come and work with you.
“It is about how you appear, it’s even down to the wording in your job description.
“There is a lot of research into this and we found women will apply for a job when they meet 100 per cent of the criteria whereas men will apply when they meet a third.
“It would seem men have the confidence whereas it would appear women tend to be less self-confident.
“Part of it is probably biological and part of it is probably because of society.”
Laura was also particularly proud of a training academy Maverick Diagnostics has set up on Wrexham Industrial Estate to upskill local mechanics and technicians on the use of specialist diagnostic tools.
She said: “Cars now are becoming like computers on wheels and there are security gateways in place so you can’t just replace a headlight for example without having access through that security gateway.
“Generic aftermarket diagnostic tools can do less and less these days so we offer the diagnostic tools specialist dealerships actually use.
“Vehicle manufacturers want to keep their cars in the dealer network, they don’t really want the aftermarket to have easy access to their specialist diagnostic tools, their tooling or their technical data.
“The technology in cars now is so complex, it is beyond most of our capabilities because there is so much IT involved.
“All the brands are different, they all have different requirements.
“What we do is help guide the independent workshop or garage through that journey.”
Ian Edwards from Wrexham Business Professionals said: “Both Laura and Ken will be hugely interesting speakers at our forthcoming meeting.
“It will be fascinating to hear their views on the current economic challenges facing businesses.”
Louise Harper from the organisation said: “We would encourage businesses to attend the meeting and hear from Laura and Ken.
“Our meetings are always informative and present terrific networking opportunities.”
