Published on:

08 March 2025

Updated on:

07 March 2025

Read time:

2 minutes

Iyna Fiaz

Group People Director

As we celebrate International Women's Day 2025, at OP we are proud to reflect on our ongoing commitment to gender equality in the workplace, particularly in the traditionally male-dominated construction and office design industry.

This year's International Women's Day theme, “Accelerate Action”, resonates deeply with our mission. With the World Economic Forum estimating it could take until 2158 to reach full gender parity at the current rate of progress, we are committed to creating positive change within our industry and our organisation.

Creating inclusive workplaces

Over the past year, we have intensified our efforts to create an environment where women can thrive at all levels of our organisation.

From our offices in Reading, London, Birmingham, and Manchester, we've not only designed high-performance workplaces for our clients but have also worked to establish inclusivity within our own teams.

The construction industry has enormous potential to change lives through the environments we create. At OP, we believe that by accelerating action in inclusive design, we're creating environments that truly serve everyone and enhancing our capabilities as a business.

Diverse teams make better decisions, bring fresh perspectives, and ultimately design better workplaces. This year's theme of 'Accelerate Action' challenges us to move beyond good intentions and implement concrete steps to support women's advancement. We're focusing on mentorship programmes and ensuring women have equal access to career development opportunities.

Iyna Fiaz, Group People Director

When we have more women in the construction industry, we see different approaches to leadership and problem-solving that benefit the entire projects. Small actions compound, whether it's mentoring a female colleague, challenging biased assumptions, or ensuring women's voices are heard in client meetings.

We've continued to implement initiatives and encourage open conversations around topics that disproportionately affect women in the workplace, such as flexible working, career progression, and work-life balance.

Our commitment to supporting our team has only grown stronger as we strive to accelerate action for gender equality.

Looking forward

At OP, we understand that truly high-performance workplaces must support and empower all employees. As specialists in workplace consultancy, and office design and build, we're committed to driving action not just in our own organisation, but across the industry.

By continuing to challenge stereotypes, question bias, and celebrate women's success, we're working toward a future where gender equality isn't a distant goal but an everyday reality. Together, we can speed up the rate of progress and build a more equitable industry, one inspiring office environment at a time.

Meet the Author

As Group People Director, Iyna is a strategic leader focused on talent acquisition, development, and engagement. She excels at building high-performing teams and inclusive cultures. Her passion for empowering employees enables her to foster an environment where people thrive. Iyna is dedicated to cultivating a workplace where employees feel valued, inspired, and empowered.