Celebrating Women at Scotts Timber Engineering
Introducing Marisha Arthur
Office administrator and delivery co coordinator Marisha Arthur, based at our Redditch factory is in her 10th year at Scotts Timber Engineering.
She started part time in a small admin role and since then has progressed to be pretty much the first point of call for the Redditch branch. “My role has changed over time for the better with parts now centralised via HQ which has allowed for even smoother output and running for both sites.”
“I like that am part of a team of great designers both at Redditch and at HQ in Northampton. I also like the organisational part of the job,” Marisha continued: “The end result from design to delivery. It’s great to be such a key part of a busy team, making sure the designers can concentrate on the designs while I look after everything else… being fluent in Polish also comes in handy.”
The construction supply chain can be a very ‘male’ environment but Marisha doesn’t struggle to hold her own – in fact she loves it: “I love the banter – this industry still is very male dominated but we have great strong women progressing through the ranks so it’s only a matter of time before we will see more women in construction and design; meanwhile I adore looking after and ‘hounding’ the boys!”
Aside from implementing new organisational systems over the years and researching to reduce costs for the day to day running of the factory and office Marisha is proud to have developed a really strong bond with her colleagues in Redditch and HQ.
She is also proud of having formed and developed strong relationships with the site managers, buyers and contractors. These individuals move around in the industry a lot from site to site or developer to developer – but come back to Scotts again and again because they’re happy with the service we give and the ongoing rapport we have fostered with them.
With ten years in the sector, Marisha has seen many changes. Through Brexit, Covid and interest rate hikes, people still need houses. “We’re living longer and ultimately most people want to own a home,” she commented. “It might be a little harder to get on the ladder but high material costs have not helped so housebuilding has slowed down for a while now as high borrowing costs hit demand for new homes- the government has also put in some high targets for housebuilders so in my opinion it’s a bit of a hill to climb, but we are.”
Before joining Scotts, Marisha worked in media, starting in telesales and progressing to Commercial and Divisional management, managing and recruiting teams to work on high end lifestyle magazines both in house and in the field. A very fast paced industry with long hours, tough targets but good fun, attending a lot of functions and meeting some seriously interesting people until the internet hit the industry’s profits dramatically and when the magazine industry struggled, set up on her own freelancing..
Originally from Solihull, Marisha and her husband had to find a house quickly when a house sale fell through. “We found a lovely place that needed work in Redditch – thinking would stay a year or so– got this job and haven’t looked back since!”
When not working, Marisha loves family, reading and travelling – she particularly loves the sea so is partial to a cruise now and again or a trip on the boat in Dartmouth or Torquay. “My husband and I also enjoy interior design and have been involved in house renovations for years. I concentrate on the project management and finished product – I stay away from heavy or dirty building work! In fact, I can be very girly and love to dress up for a function and wear a hat whenever I can!!”
