Our member insight series is an opportunity to get to know some of our Women in Transport members. This month, we are featuring some of North East Hub volunteers. In this member insight, we showcase Clare Wood, Director at Turner & Townsend Infrastructure Project Management covering the Yorkshire and North East region.
by Clare Wood
Hi, I’m Clare Wood, Director at Turner & Townsend Infrastructure Project Management covering the Yorkshire and North East region. My patch covers from the Scottish borders to South Yorkshire and over to Carlisle. I have worked for Turner & Townsend for seven years and started as a Senior Project Manager where I worked for clients such as Northumbrian Water and the North East LEP.
From a young age I have always been interested in engineering and mechanics as my Dad owned a garage, so I spent a lot of time ‘fiddling’ with engines. This, coupled with my love of IT, led me to enrol on a BSC Human Cybernetics degree which allowed me to combine the two – win win!
I have had a varied career which includes jobs such as working in sewage treatment for Thames Water, regeneration for Newcastle City Council, teaching IT skills to farmers during the foot and mouth crisis and more recently working on several transport projects including rail. I have never had a career plan and have always just followed my heart and what interests me. I find if you work in jobs you enjoy then it’s not onerous and you put your all into it and excel.
Most of my roles have included an aspect of regeneration be that social, economic or physical and the element that is common across these and links them is transport. Good, affordable and reliable transport supports the other elements of regeneration across our cities and towns. This is why it is so important to establish and support sustainable transport links and why I enjoy working in the sector as it plays such a fundamental role in keeping the country alive and prospering, something that is more important than ever at the moment.
Annual membership of Women in Transport is £60 per year providing access to professional development and networking opportunities. We very much welcome guest blogs from our members - a great way to share the incredible diversity of opportunity in transport, raise your profile and connect with our community.
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