YORKSHIRE Water has been ranked as one of the top 50 best employers of women in the UK, according to a new survey.

The Bradford-based company was named in The Times newspaper’s annual Top 50 Employers of Women list.

Women make up a total of 33 per cent of the company’s workforce. The firm has a range of development programmes for women that enhance career progression opportunities across a range of sectors including engineering, science, environment and communications.

Middle managers at Yorkshire Water are now 33 per cent female and its senior manager gender balance has increased by ten per cent to 30 per cent female.

At board level, there are four women and the company aims to further increase this number.

Becky McDonnell, head of talent at Yorkshire Water, said: “We are succeeding in breaking down pre-conceptions that the utilities and engineering sectors are a man’s world.

“This is no longer true, as we have made a concerted effort to attract females to highly skilled front-line engineering roles as well as a diverse range of rewarding office-based roles in legal, communications, science and environmental that exist.”