In early 2021, UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) Transforming Foundation Industries (TFI) Challenge, delivered by Innovate UK, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), set up the Future Leaders Group (FLG). Its mission was to help the UKRI challenge team engage thoroughly with the various foundation industry sectors, including concrete, ceramics, chemicals, glass, paper and steel.
The FLG was assembled to include voices from across the foundation industries in order to challenge the status quo, change perceptions of these industries and drive greater diversity, equality and inclusion. Its members represented a pool of talent from within the industries, with four core themes to be tackled by taskforces within the FLG:
- innovation
- sustainability
- diversity and Inclusion
- communications, events and engagements
In November 2021, Innovate UK placed a spotlight on some members of the FLG to decide who would drive it forward. The FLG has since completed its work for the time being, but developments over the years since that spotlight make 2025 the perfect time to see how involvement in the FLG helped build up these future foundation industry leaders, and see what they have been up to since.
Imogen’s story
Imogen Harding first joined the FLG as factory manager at Ibstock Brick, hailing from the ceramics industry. When we caught up with her in October 2024, she had just been promoted to the role of Head of Group Distribution Performance at Ibstock Plc.
As Imogen recalls:
I got prompted to join the FLG when a pre-existing member suggested taking part in September 2021, and immediately became part of the comms team. Historically, the ceramics industry hasn’t traditionally had a lot of young people within it, wishing to change things. I joined the FLG to change that perception completely.
Imogen hailed from an academic background in which manufacturing didn’t necessarily seem like the obvious career path. In her experience, the UK has a rich history of manufacturing, but all too-often, it loses the talent it so desperately needs due to negative perceptions, including the belief it’s male-dominated.
She credits her involvement within the FLG with having given her greater confidence in communicating with large groups of people, especially following the opportunity to speak to an assembled audience at the Ceramics Innovation Network at The University of Manchester.
For Imogen, this conference was an opportunity for her to speak to students and other academics, breaking the assumption some might have held that manufacturing is a niche field of work. In her current work, Imogen can see the next generation of foundation industry leaders trickling through at Ibstock Plc, claiming apprenticeships are increasingly including not just manufacturing and other mechanical placements, but managerial ones as well.
Lucy’s story
Lucy Smith, who was a Principal Researcher in the Circular Economy at the Material Processing Institute (MPI), has moved up the professional ladder to become Commercial Director at MPI. She first got involved in the FLG in 2021 when she signed up to a newsletter from Innovate UK. The FLG was brought to her attention through this and she soon took a request to join the group to her boss. Lucy ultimately served as Co-Chair of the FLG for the first 12 months.
Lucy says:
I joined at the height of COVID, so my time at the FLG started as online-only, meeting every three months. It felt great to connect with a network of people working in similar but distinctly different areas.
A recurring theme that emerges in discussion with former FLG members is recognition of a gender gap within the foundation industries. Joining the FLG enabled Lucy to collaborate with peers from other foundation industries, and encounter new perspectives which might not have been available to her and other members within their respective silos. Even so, she was conscious that, despite the FLG membership being split 50/50 between men and women, there is a clear divide between them when they begin careers in the foundation industries.
For example, as Lucy attests:
It can be tricky, as people assume that women won’t return to industry once they’ve started a family, or will want to take a step back. It’s important to say that there are exciting jobs within the foundation industries, but starting a family is not the only reason why women leave, and they have a number of other barriers to overcome.
Michael’s story
Michael Agyeman joined the FLG in 2021, when he was working as a Process Improvement Engineer at Special Metals Wiggin Ltd. While part of the FLG, Michael moved into a role as a Senior Metallurgist at Mettis Aerospace, but since his time in the group, he has become an Engineering Product Manager at AK Industries. Michael became an active member of the FLG in February 2021, attending its quarterly meetings until it completed its activities in July 2024. He was especially involved in the work of the diversity, equity and inclusion and communications subgroups within the FLG.
For Michael, perception is a key issue to broach in the foundation industries. He says:
People assume the foundation industries are home to more blue-collar types of jobs. There are a number of things which can be off-putting to women. I recall panel conversations going on within the industries where there would be some female representation, but the panel would be mostly men, and just one or two women.
The FLG, in his view, was a concerted effort to ensure people from all backgrounds, across a variety of ages from within the industry, could be heard.
Michael assisted with one webinar in the series on sustainability and circular economy, led by fellow FLG colleague Michael Kenyon during the group’s three-year life. Michael found that FLG involvement helped broaden his peer group beyond his own metals-based silo, while also offering rewarding professional experiences. As mentioned, Michael has since left the metals sector to join a business operating in polymer manufacturing.
Michael says:
During my time in the FLG, I saw a clear, concerted effort to include people from across the entire spectrum of the foundation industries. When becoming an engineer, it can be easy to silo yourself off into a specific niche and lose perspective. Joining the FLG allowed us all to leave those silos, come together, view the foundation industries holistically and work collaboratively.
Sarah’s story
Sarah Harrold has a very different perspective of the FLG than some, having actually established the group while serving as Innovation Lead at Innovate UK. In the years since the FLG was created and completed its activities, Sarah has become Head of Strategy and Government Engagement at Glass Futures, an entity brought to life through support from the TFI Challenge. As part of her role, she leads Foundation Industries Ventures (FIVe) alongside fellow FLG member, Lucy Smith. FIVe serves as a non-profit incubator, enabling a collaborative environment for start-ups within the foundation industries.
Sarah says:
I knew there were bright minds who would be the future leaders of the foundation industry, waiting to be found.
They weren’t CEOs yet, but already game-changers in their respective industries, and there was a need to gain insights from them in one central forum.
Sarah saw value in ensuring such future leaders could all assemble to engage with one another and promote greater representation, while also pursuing more sustainable practices within the foundation industries. Sarah’s involvement in the FLG allowed her to oversee subgroups within it, which were all providing not just good ideas but opportunities for participants to provide mentorship to one another.
Sarah’s career trajectory has been greatly enhanced by involvement in the FLG, especially her current work at FIVe. This is because she gained broad, trusted contacts who have provided vital sounding boards and advice from their own lived experiences as founders and innovators, seeding the support that FIVe provides.
When asked what finding a future leader means to her, Sarah says:
It’s all about finding those individuals with potential and enthusiasm. We need to place greater value towards amplifying passionate people beyond just their title and their immediate circle. After all, the FLG itself was all about picking potential leaders, not just going for those who are already leaders.
Veronika’s story
Veronika Elfmarkova was an R&D Concrete Technologist when she joined the FLG back in 2021. During her time within the group, Veronika then moved to Aggregate Industries UK, where she served as ECOPact Product Manager for London Concrete.
Veronika explains:
Joining the FLG helped me build up connections within not just my own industry but others beyond it.
As members, we had so many invaluable opportunities to collaborate through working groups. Specifically, from within my silo, I was keen to get things moving from a ready-mix concrete (RMX) perspective, so I was always open to seeking cross-collaboration opportunities from colleagues in other sectors.
Veronika soon identified the various synergies between each sector, including, for example, those between glass and ceramics with steel and aluminium. In practice, it was possible to use waste streams in glass and ceramics and repurpose them for use in steel and aluminium production. This innovative use of materials promotes industrial symbiosis and circular practices between the sectors.
During her time with the FLG, Veronika made lasting relationships with people across the foundation industries and can attest to the way the group helped shape career trajectories for those involved.
She clarifies, saying:
I could see that women were not getting roles of leadership as quickly as I would have liked, but membership of the FLG brought greater visibility to all those involved, including myself. While each FLG member from the other respective industries had different mindsets, we could clearly see the issues our industries were facing regarding representation, highlighting the need for a joined up approach.
Since participating in the FLG, Veronika has moved to Switzerland, landing a global role at Holcim, where she works as Group Head of Commercial RMX at Holcim, a significant progression.
She says:
The FLG was all about breaking down the barriers between industries. Membership of it widened my horizons and those of others. I joined it in a fairly local role, and now I’m heading a global business. It’s helped grow leaders of the future for sure.
After the FLG
The FLG completed its activities in the summer of 2024, after over three years of groundbreaking work both behind closed doors and in the public domain. Between 2022 and 23, it hosted a number of webinars delivered by FLG members, each one touching on a specific part of the foundation industries. If you missed them, you can watch them in full on Foundation Industries Future Leaders Group.
While the FLG’s work might be complete in its present incarnation, one of the key values all participants quoted in this blog agreed upon was the way it fostered a sense of collaboration. Any future FLG for the foundation industries, wherever it may appear, would do well to continue the work of breaking down the silos between industries, ensuring diversity of thought and a clear sense of direction for them.
As the UK government sets out its modern industrial strategy, Invest 2035, mechanisms like the FLG are an impactful first step to increase representation of previously less prominent demographics within UK industries. If the UK is to meet its net zero targets, it will require enough diversity of thought to inspire future generations to enter the foundation industries and achieve sustainable, inclusive and resilient growth through innovation.
Perhaps you could be a future leader in your industry, but you just don’t know it yet. What would you like to change in your industry for the better? It could be all down to you.