Speaking at the second annual Women in Construction dinner hosted by Builder & Engineer magazine, Curtis-Thomas called on women and the industry to recognise their roles in plugging the gaping skills gap.

She said: “I speak to MPs on a daily basis and they say, ‘We want more women’. In the construction industry the percentage of women is still terribly small but it is a great job to do and it has something to offer everyone.”

Curtis-Thomas said she was described by a teacher as “uniquely stupid” at school. However, she went on to become a site engineer for Shell Chemicals – the first woman to fill the role in its history.

She said: "By and large it is women who have advocated on our behalf. We want more. The only way we will get more is if we give each other a hand up."

Josie Chandler, package manager at Carillion was nominated for the Outstanding Performance Award.

She is currently onsite with Carillion carrying out the construction of what will be Leeds’ tallest building, the 171-metre Lumiere tower.

She called on women to step into the challenge layed down by the industry.