Q/A with Ellie Henderson

In June, we caught up with Ellie Henderson who is based from our Selkirk office and is one of the only Directors who works on a part-time basis in order to juggle her busy family life:

 

Q: So Ellie, how long have you been working in the industry and when did you start at Allied?

A: I went to Glasgow Caledonian University in 1999, graduated in June 2003 and started with Allied in August 2003. I qualified (e.g became MRICS certified) in 2006 and made Director in January 2019.  

 

Q: Why did you make the decision to be part-time?

A: I have two young children and my husband works away Monday- Friday so it was important to me to maintain the work/life balance. My part-time schedule works perfectly as it allows me to drop off and pick up the kids from nursery/school and still be able to work.

 

Q: That must be a busy week for you then, juggling work and mum life- how do you manage it all?

A: Although I am based in the Selkirk office, I live in Kelso and work from home so when I’m not out on survey I can be quite flexible as to when I get my work done, I am an early riser so that’s always helpful!

 

Q: What’s it like being a female surveyor in a male dominated industry?

A: When I was at University, there was barely any females (only about 4 out of 12) whereas now it’s becoming more common. I think a lot of females think that it’s a messy job, you know being on muddy and dusty building sites the whole time, and of course it can be like that sometimes, but it’s pretty rare. It’s such a brilliant job and it’s great to see that more females are slowly starting to see that.

 

Q: And finally, what’s one of the best things about your job?

A: My favourite part is being out and about and getting to meet lots of different people. I also love the area, for instance Berwick and Holy Island is so beautiful so seeing the lovely views when you’re travelling to and from survey is great.