Liberty Group’s Karen Sloan has won the Leadership Award at the Institute of Gas Engineers and Managers (IGEM) Gas Industry Awards after boosting firm’s turnover by £10m.
The award recognises Karen’s considerable achievements as Managing Director of Heating and Compliance at Liberty over the past year, with turnover at the group rising by around £10m over that period.
In a male-dominated industry Karen is an inspirational figure for other women aspiring to leadership roles in the sector, with a number of colleagues saying she has been instrumental in helping them to develop their careers. Her approach has saved £850,000 for the national property maintenance firm, who’s head office is in the North-West, by overhauling processes to improve customer service while increasing efficiency.
Karen’s leadership has resulted in Liberty achieving 100% gas compliance during the year, with customer satisfaction with Liberty operatives’ professional approach also on the rise. She has overseen the introduction of a new webchat service which has seen response times improve by 27%.
Karen said: “I’m really pleased to have received this award and hope that my success at Liberty shines a light on the important contribution women in the property services industry can play in driving business growth, excellent customer service and innovation.
“I believe across the sector we need to do more to support more women into the industry and I’m proud to be part of a business that champions the role of women in construction.”
Kirsty Thomas, Head of Business Performance and Change at Liberty commented: “I count myself as lucky that early in my career I had the privilege of working with Karen and was inspired by her resilience and determination to succeed in this male-dominated industry.
“15 years later, we’re now working together again at Liberty, and her leadership is clearly setting the tone of equality and respect within the business.”
Liberty is a property services specialist, providing reactive and planned maintenance nationally and across all technical disciplines, refurbishments, mechanical and electrical projects, construction and decarbonisation.
