This article highlights the significant presence of neurodivergent individuals within the UK construction industry—with figures suggesting as many as 1 in 4 workers and 46% of project professionals identify as such. Despite this, many face considerable challenges, including a lack of empathy, fear of stigma preventing disclosure, and missed opportunities for support during hiring. This often leads to "masking" and potential burnout, underscoring the urgent need for targeted initiatives. By fostering open conversations and providing specific support, similar to successful mental health campaigns in the sector, the industry can unlock the unique strengths of its neurodivergent workforce—such as strong problem-solving and attention to detail—creating a more inclusive, understanding, and productive environment for everyone.

Embracing neurodiversity in construction offers significant benefits like increased productivity, innovation, and a broader talent pool, while also promoting job satisfaction and social equity. To fully leverage these advantages, companies need to raise awareness, adapt the work environment, foster inclusive communication, and understand legal obligations, ultimately unlocking the unique strengths of neurodivergent individuals for greater success.

This report by On The Tools, published in March 2023, found that 93% of UK tradespeople have been impacted by mental ill health in some way, with 73% of all UK tradespeople surveyed experiencing mental ill health right now or in the past. A further 20% hadn’t personally experienced mental ill health but knew another tradesperson who had.

Why would you hire someone who is neurodivergent to work in your construction business?

Neurodiversity Celebration Week 2025 got SC4 Director, Katy Hall, reflecting on just that question.

SC4 is passionate about encouraging more women into STEM and Construction. Owner/Director, Katy Hall, believes that changing attitudes to gender from a very young age, and in our day to day interactions, could cause a shift towards this and improve life for all.

SC4 Carpenters Ltd is pleased and proud to announce that Katy Hall, joint owner & Director of SC4, has won an Inspirational Business Women in STEM and Construction Award in 2025.

The number of women venturing into roles in the construction industry is still modest, but is growing year by year. Since 2022, around 14-16% of the UK construction workforce have been female, with more women entering the sector from higher education. In 2023, The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported 340,000 women employed by the sector, an increase of 3.2% since 2019. As construction becomes an increasingly popular and attractive career pathway for women, however, ensuring women’s safety and well-being on-site remains paramount.

Among the issues facing the incoming Labour government are long term, structural difficulties within the UK construction sector. It’s not that there’s any shortage of demand.

If you don't work harder at school you'll end up on a building site.

How many boys (and girls) heard this and thought "that's not the career for me"?

This article discusses how can changing attitudes towards neurodivergence and those with creative skills can help relieve skills shortages in the Construction Industry.

And that we should be valuing these skills in childhood and pride in neurodivergent people, not knocking them for the very skills the industry needs.

SC4 Carpenters Ltd is thrilled to announce that Katy Hall, one of the owner/directors or SC4 Carpenters Ltd, has been shortlisted for 3 awards at the Inspiring Women in Construction and Engineering awards 2024.

This ADHD Productivity Cheat Sheet includes 10 Tips to Boost Productivity for Neurodivergent People, because standard methodologies, tips and tricks aimed at neurotypical brains don't work and can leave someone who is neurodivergent feeling like a failure.

As a contractor or contractor-developer, you understand the significance of selecting the right specialist trade contractor to support your new-build housing projects. Working with the right specialist contractor can significantly impact your project's success, bringing in further expertise, experience, quality assurance, project management capabilities, and a strong commitment to health and safety. This eBook delves into the key aspects that a competent specialist trade contractor can contribute to your new-build housing development.

Katy Hall is a neurodivergent (ND) woman who has been working in technology & construction since the 1980s. In this article she shares how being neurodivergent affects her and the benefits she believes she brings to her role.

This year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) falls on Friday 8th March 2024. 10 years ago in 2014, International Women’s Day, also on 8th March, as always, took the theme of ‘equality for women is progress for all’. This year’s IWD is a good opportunity to reflect on how far we’ve come in terms of that vision in the UK construction sector over the past decade, and where further improvements can be made.

As we look forward to International Women’s Day next month (8th March 2024), a lot of construction industry stakeholders and thought leaders are reflecting on the position of women in the industry and how things can be improved. Without ignoring the huge improvements in female involvement in the sector, there is still clearly a long way to go – with at most 16% of British industry workers being women.

In January 2024, the Sustainability Tool, in collaboration with the Supply Chain Sustainability School’s Fairness, Inclusion and Respect (FIR) Programme, published its UK built environment diversity survey. This survey of more than 526,000 people provides a detailed record of diversity data and pinpoints areas for improvement.

Two 2023 surveys from the Association of Project Managers and On the Tools suggest that around half of Construction Project Managers and Tradespeople describe themselves as Neurodivergent. 

Reassuringly, 9 out of 10 Neurodivergent Project Managers in Construction say their employers have made changes to accommodate their needs.

In this, the second part of our mini-series on women in construction, we tackle some of the most commonly asked questions surrounding the role of women in the industry.

One of the biggest trends in UK construction is the growing involvement of women at all levels of the sector. In this two-part article series, we’ll look at the challenges and opportunities faced by women in the construction industry. From breaking down stereotypes to exploring the benefits of a diverse workforce, we will address some of the most commonly asked questions and uncover the untapped potential of women in a traditionally male-dominated sector.

With the exception of a growing number of noteworthy and admirable examples, construction is still largely a male-dominated industry. Walk onto an average construction site and you’re not likely to see too many women in hard hats and vests, but this is changing rapidly due to changing societal attitudes, better promotion of STEM subjects as viable subjects for girls and young women in schools and universities, and more information about the wide range of job opportunities available in construction.

Whether you are a business owner, manager, or employee, we all have a part to play in creating a more welcoming and inclusive work environment within our industry. As business owners, it is easy to make all the right moves in our attempts to hire a more diverse team of tradespeople and on-site operatives, but what happens when they quit due to bullying, discrimination, or lack of accessibility?

New research from National Federation of Builders, published in August 2023 in conjunction with CITB, has discovered that neurodiversity is common amongst construction workers in the UK and being neurodivergent is encouraging people to pursue a career in construction. SC4 Carpenters Ltd employs neurodivergent people at all levels from Directors to Carpenters and Decorators on site and believes they bring a lot of benefits to our business.

In this article, Katy Hall discusses neurodiversity in construction and how to build a neurodiverse work culture. Many people working within SC4 Carpenters from Directors to tradespeople, and within the Construction Industry as a whole, are neurodivergent, including Katy herself. Many of the challenges faced by ND people are invisible - don't assume everyone else is ok, just because you are not struggling with the working environment.

Since Brexit and the Covid 19 pandemic, there has been an increased shortage of qualified tradespeople and industry professionals in the construction sector, and many contractors are starting to feel the strain from a lack of skilled workers to deliver their projects. Although this has meant an ‘employee’s market’ in which wages have increased for skilled workers, this increased pay is still not helping overcome the shortage.

In this article, SC4 Carpenters Ltd Owner/Director talks more about her nomination as a UK Construction Week Role Model in 2023 and why the promotion of women, neurodiversity and equity in construction is so important. When I first started out there were very few women in construction and in fact it took me many years to understand that I was working in the construction industry.

During Neurodiversity Celebration Week, 13 -19 March 2023, Katy Hall, Owner/Director of SC4 Carpenters Ltd, considers the pros and cons of being neurodivergent, including the many benefits neurodiversity brings to the company as well as the difficulties neurodivergent people face. In construction , neurodiversity is more common than you probably realise and frequently an advantage.

Katy Hall, Owner Director of SC4 Carpenters Ltd talks to the Federation of Master Builders about the many opportunities for Women in Construction and the improvements the industry has seen over the last decade to increase the number of women entering the construction industry. Katy discusses her experience over her 20 years and the shift in attitudes to women in construction.

Here at SC4 Carpenters, we are committed to not only calling out this behaviour by businesses but also doing our utmost to make sure that none of these imbalances appears within our company. We understand carpentry is about skill and hard work, and the quality of the work is in no way affected by gender, sexuality, ethnicity, disabilities or social background.

At SC4 we were very excited to be attending the 2022 Women’s Day Event in London, on 8th March, to celebrate female leaders in the construction industry. Since the event, we've updated this blog with a few images from the event. At the Women’s Day Event, SC4 Director, Katy Hall, joined the panel with other industry leaders for a discussion all about how to tackle issues surrounding diversity and equality in Construction.

In this article, Conrad Hall, owner/Director of SC4 Carpenters Lt discusses his 40 year career in construction and how his dyslexia and neurodiversity has contributed to his success. In January 2022, when I received my NVQ 7 in Senior Construction Management it was validation for years of hard work, experience and building belief in myself.

In this article, Owner/Director of SC4 Carpenters Ltd, Katy Hall, relates her story in construction reflecting on her role and changing Construction Industry attitudes to women over the last 30 years. I was an equal owner and director and was heavily involved in the commercial strategy right from the start. Yet I still saw it as their company. They were the ones on site, they had the technical knowledge and carpentry experience.

In this article, SC4 reflects on its role and influence in the industry. Our primary focus has been on how Belonging can affect the Wellbeing of our staff and subcontractors. We hope that by raising awareness of Mental Health issues and promoting Diversity within our workforce, we will create a happier and healthier company and a more positive and focused team.

Results of an American Study identifies working as a Carpenter as one of the Top Jobs for a person with Dyslexia due to greater awareness of spatial relationships. Dyslexia is a learning disability that makes it difficult to read and write words. Sometimes dyslexics transpose words or mix up numbers they are trying to read. This can lead to difficulty in the workplace.

HRH THE DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE AND FOOTBALL LEGENDS CHAMPION MENTAL HEALTH ON EMIRATES FA CUP THIRD ROUND WEEKEND. Public Health England’s Every Mind Matters and the Heads Up campaign, a partnership between Heads Together and The FA, have teamed up to encourage football fans to take simple actions to look after their mental health.

As an Ambassador for Women in Construction #WIC and Diversity in Construction #DIC, and as a Mental Health First Aider - #MHFA, I truly believe that if we are to attract women and people from diverse communities, or those with disabilities into Construction, Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths #STEM, as well as support those already in the industry struggling with prejudice, hidden and visible disabilities.

SC4 are happy to announce, we will be sending two representatives, as Diversity in Construction Ambassadors, to the London Build Expo 2019. The session is free-to-attend for all and offers the chance for industry professionals to network and feel inspired. Learn from a panel of diversity champions discussing the the key issues and major developments within the UK's built environment.

Rachael talks about how she became Marketing & Communications Manager for SC4 Carpenters Ltd and why her role as Welfare Liaison was so important.

Katy Hall has been Finance Director, Company Secretary and an owner of SC4 Carpenters Ltd since its inauguration in 2000. Read Katy's story in construction to find out how she came to construction and why she believes it is so important for the industry that it attracts more women.

Campaigning for Greater Diversity and Inclusivity in the Construction Industry

In this article, SC4 continues its efforts to promote positive growth in the Construction Industry. We present the facts about women in construction, such as, of the 2 million people who work in the Construction Industry in the UK, just 320,000 are Women and only 7% of women in construction work in manual positions.