Celebrating Women in Wienerberger: Tracy Davey

Hi, I’m Tracy Davey, I’m the Stores Manager and Maintenance Controller at Hartlebury. I am also a First Aider, Fire Marshal and Mobile plant champion.  I’ve worked for Wienerberger UK & Ireland for almost 8 years.  I joined the business as Stores Manager at Hartlebury when it was re-commissioned in 2014 after being mothballed in 2008 due to the recession. I’d like to share my career journey with you.

How I got started

Prior to joining Wienerberger UK & Ireland, my experience was in retail working for Aldi, Matalan and Lidl working my way up from store assistant to department and store manager. It was exciting times being involved in new store openings, members only concept stores and no barcodes or scanners!

In June 2016 when I moved into my current role of Maintenance Controller I was over-seeing the department as there was no maintenance manager at site. Although that changed in August 2018, when we recruited a Maintenance Manager, I still have a great deal of involvement with the department today and my role hasn’t really changed.

Why I chose the construction industry and Wienerberger UK & Ireland

Being local to the area I had heard by word of mouth the H2 site was being re-commissioned and it looked like an exciting new challenge. In addition, I was turning 40 and wanted more settled hours than retail could offer.  Having researched the company it was clear they were developing into different areas and were well established not just in the brick industry; I had always had a strong focus on budgets / KPI’s / audits etc. coming from the retail environment and hoped this would stand me in good stead for a stores role with Wienerberger, and it did!

How I’ve found it this far

Things have changed significantly since I first started when there was a definite reluctance from male colleagues to accept a female managing stores.  In fact, it was known for some to make requests via a male member of the team to pass onto me!  At times I did wonder about sticking it out, but I’m glad to say the plant manager and works engineer at the time were more broad-minded and saw my potential. When I think back I have always been one of the few females in my senior roles but it’s never been something that bothered me.  I am a focused and determined person and 8 years on colleagues and managers seek my opinions. It’s nice to have moved into the 21^st century.

Something I miss, is when I first joined, Waresley and Hartlebury sites used to enter the ‘Works 4 rowing’ – there were 4-6 practice sessions prior to the day of the race, which was in June and there was always a good turnout on the river bank in Stourport from colleagues.  It was great for building and motivating the teams.

I would like to take the opportunity to salute Wienerberger for recognising what women bring to the company and their roles. I have often joked with the other ladies that used to be at Hartlebury that an all-female site would be the most productive Wienerberger site! Maybe we should trial it!

What I hope the future holds

I’m happy in my current position; but always like to learn and develop new skills as the business grows. As they say ‘never say never’ as the business is still growing who knows what opportunities lie around the corner….

What I do when not at work

My philosophy is ‘Travel. Your money will return. Your time won’t’ so over the years I’ve visited Florida, L.A., Las Vegas and San Francisco.  I’ve developed a love of history, so I’ve also been to Rome, Sorrento, Capri, Sicily, Turkey and the Greek islands.  Next year, it looks like it could be time to start cruising.

I love cooking and grow my own fruit and vegetables. I also fish, I love the challenge of river fishing rather than pools. My fiancé says I’m just lucky!

Finally, I have 2 four year-old cats - Tasha & Trixie who never fail to bring a smile to my face with their adventures and I enjoy supporting the Cats Protection League, Guide Dogs and Breast cancer charities.