03 February 2025
One of the ‘diamonds’ of construction has picked up a prestigious, national award – and has vowed to continue speaking up for her industry and the next generation of workforce.
Julie White, the managing director of D-Drill & Sawing, the chair of Build UK and the chair of the Drilling & Sawing Association, won the Construction Businesswoman Award at the Great British Businesswoman Awards at Leonardo St Pauls in London.
There were a range of awards handed out on the nightcovering a variety of sectors to celebrate and support women in business across the UK, with Julie taking home the prize for construction in recognition of her passion for the industry.
The judges commented: “Julie won this award for her passionate leadership, resilience in steering D-Drill through challenges, and tireless advocacy for the construction industry and SMEs.”
Julie’s company, D-Drill & Sawing, continues to bring through apprentices to support its work delivering diamond drilling, concrete sawing and a range of other services – such as pull-testing – across the country.
Not only that, she has been one of the strongest voices for construction over many years and is regularly advocating for the sector at the highest level, including with the Governmentand directly to the Prime Minister.
Julie will also play a key role in Open Doors 2025, an initiative led by Build UK that will see hundreds of construction sites and workplaces open up from March 17 to March 22 so the public – especially young people – can find out more about a career in the industry.
It is the latest in a long list of awards picked up by both Julie individually and the business and she said she would use any additional profile to ‘talk-up’ construction as a great career.
She said: “I was honoured and humbled to pick up the Construction Businesswoman Award at the Great British Businesswoman Awards. It was an honour just to be there in the company of so many incredible people, and to win the award was the icing on the cake.
“Of course, it’s always lovely to be recognised in this way on a personal level but, for me, the most important part of winning an award like this is it gives me the opportunity to talk about the industry I love.
“The Government has just announced plans to build, build, build to get our economy moving and I am very much in favour of that because it’s positive news for the whole supply chain.
“But, we can only deliver on that if we bring through the next generation of workforce – we need 50,000 recruits a year to ensure the industry can deliver what the country needs.
“That is why I am so proud and passionate to support initiatives such as Open Doors to open more people’s eyes to construction, show them the sheer amount of jobs and opportunities we have and what fantastic career prospects it offers.
“This is something I have been speaking to Government about on a regular basis and will continue to do so.
“And if awards such as this help to bring additional profile to me and the industry, that’s even better. I am so grateful for all of the support – especially from the team at D-Drill that has helped me to pick up such a prestigious prize! I couldn’t have achieved any of this without them delivering such as high-class service and being at the top of our industry.”
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