International Women's Day 2025: Meet Equal Plane's new co-chairs

As we reflect on International Women's Day, it is important for us to continue to build an inclusive workforce.

Over the last few years, through our gender equality Business Resource Group (BRG) Equal Plane, we've made progress in areas such as enhancing our maternity policy, forming a menopause support framework, and building a bank of resources for women colleagues.

It's fantastic to have two new co-chairs have taken the helm at Equal Plane, Daisy Essex , a Sales and Ops Planning Graduate, and Laura Reynolds MCIOB , a Senior Field Engineer.

Daisy was inspired by Equal Plane’s work as a driving force for change, and decided to put herself forward as co-chair as she was concerned by the underrepresentation of women in the wider aviation industry.

She said: “I am incredibly proud of the impactful work Equal Plane has accomplished. For instance, our numerous International Women’s Day sessions have been inspiring and empowering, fostering a sense of community and celebration among women. Additionally, our menopause workstreams have gained significant popularity and have proven to be immensely helpful for many women in the business, providing them with the support and resources they need during this important phase of their work.”

Laura has worked with the BRG since its inception and says she ‘jumped at the chance’ to become co-chair after spending the last few years on the leadership team, mostly due to her experience as a woman in a male-dominated field. She said: “I work in construction, a very male-dominated industry, and progression has been challenging, where being passed over for male counterparts has been an experience to overcome.

“I used feedback from rejected applications and spoke to colleagues and friends to get advice on filling competency gaps and get better interview techniques, and I achieved my goal of promotion following this.”

Equal Plane is actively engaged in several impactful initiatives aimed at fostering a more inclusive environment for women and providing women with tools, resources and networks to overcome barriers, including:

Financial support: providing resources and assistance to help women achieve financial stability and independence

Women’s health: focusing on comprehensive health initiatives, including continuing support for menopause and wellbeing

Networking: creating platforms and events that facilitate professional networking and relationship=building to support career growth.

Though Daisy and Laura are at different points of their careers, they are aligned in their commitment to ensuring London Gatwick is an inclusive and more equitable workplace, along with the rest of Equal Plane and all of our other BRGs.

We’re very proud of the work that colleagues put in to this work, as we all play our role in making London Gatwick the airport for everyone, whatever their journey.