Francesca has already achieved so much within her short time at Willmott Dixon and we believe she is a shining example of the best of today’s young adults. She has already established herself as a young leader within the business and is now paving her way as a future leader within the wider industry and beyond.

All her life, Francesca has chased opportunity, to strive for change and challenge the status quo. Growing up in one of Scotland’s most deprived towns, she experienced things such as fuel poverty first hand and she is open to share, that quite often her family had to choose between heating or having food on the table. These experiences gave her a clear vision of what she wanted to achieve within the sustainability industry and have moulded her to be the exciting, ambitious and driven young professional she is today.

Captivated by the world of sustainability during her school years, Francesca didn’t let the fact that geography wasn’t offered as a subject stop her from gaining specialised knowledge. She committed to self-studying the subject for two years off timetable in independent sessions – the only person in her entire school to do this, and then one of only four to progress onto higher education. She was accepted to study Environmental Geography at the University of Stirling and continued to make a huge impact on those around her – standing out to lectures for her hard work, and commitment to innovate, influence and inspire she was put forward for a master’s degree scholarship where she studied Environmental Management specialising in environmental policy and law.  A clear and inspiring message to all that no matter your circumstances, if you a have a genuine passion to make a difference, the courage to change your pathway and the drive to work hard and be proactive in all you do – no matter your age you can really have an impact.

Francesca is already an established, young leader within the business – a person influencing others and pioneering positive change within the sustainability sector. She has always immersed herself with everything the field has to offer, and her determination is truly undisputed – she is disrupting the norms and inspiring others to join a positive movement through her work, leading on some of our key projects within the business. Accolades we believe extremely worthy of this prestigious recognition that will drive her development personally and professionally.

A true born natural leader, Francesca goes above and beyond to share and spread her visions and ideas in ways that are digestible and reachable to anyone regardless of age, gender, prior knowledge or occupation. She has created learning modules on our business learning management system that are now used across all departments, business wide to build awareness of the businesses 10-point sustainability plan. She also proactively volunteers her personal time to mentor, inspire and guide university students, school pupils, ex-offenders, social enterprises and small businesses – through her involvement in a variety of independent and internal programmes and initiatives.

Key achievements

• Francesca has always strived for change and challenged the status quo – she immerses herself in everything the sustainability and environmental sector has to offer and is a true pioneer for positive change.
• She takes an adaptable approach to find common ground with everyone she works with, from school pupils to supply chain partners – inspiring wider change and innovating new ideas big and small. This genuine passion and dedication highlighted in the countless hours she spends outside of her working hours engaging and inspiring people of all ages.
• She captivates what it means to be a future leader – leading through her own actions, ambitions and courage to go after what she believes in – even if that means disrupting the norms.