RACHEL ABBOTT
COVER STORY
HALLAMSHIRE MISTRESS CUTLER: This year, Rachel Abbott takes on the role of Hallamshire Mistress Cutler, meaning there are two women sitting in the top spots. Like Julie, Rachel is passionate about equality for women in STEM and promoting opportunities for all. Rachel is the managing director of Cobra Sport, specialist manufacturers of stainless-steel automotive exhausts. She’s no stranger to adversity in business, whether it be the challenges brought about by the pandemic, the difficulties in recruiting the right staff or the assumptions made about females who work in the manufacturing industry. But what Rachel is passionate about is working hard to solve problems and bring about positive change. She said: “I’ve always felt the best way to deal with these kinds of problems is to identify what would help and then set the wheels in motion yourself, instead of waiting for other people to make the first move – which let’s face it, doesn’t always happen! “One of my biggest passions is training and when I realised we were experiencing a skills gap when trying to recruit, I took matters into my own hands. “I have recently worked with The Sheffield College to bring back their level two day release fabrication and welding apprenticeship, as nowhere in the region was running this course anymore and it’s a skill we desperately need. I’m really proud to say that course will be back up and running in January. “I also think we need to be investing more into traineeships as there are people leaving school without any ideas on what to do next who could make a real positive difference to businesses in the region. As part of my role, I am hoping to continue championing this as much as I can.” Outside of her role at the Company of Cutlers, Rachel has been busy working on the creation of Cobra Manufacturing, which provides precision metalwork engineering solutions for amongst others, the commercial, leisure, automotive and food and drink industries.
EQUALITY IN STEM FEMALE ROLE MODELS OUR MISSION: TO ATTRACT, DEVELOP AND RETAIN A DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE MIX OF PEOPLE IN STEM CAREERS
To read about more about our work and female role models please visit our website at www.equalityinstem.org.uk/blog unLTDBUSINESS.COM 43