Supported by PR and social media services from Polygon, Multisol recently announced its sponsorship of the inaugural Women in Lubricants Conference, which took place at 116 Pall Mall, London on March 11th. Hosted by Lube magazine, the first ever ‘Women in the Lubricants Industry – No Limits!’ conference was both a celebration of women in a sector traditionally dominated by men and a step towards closing the diversity gap.

Taking place during International Women’s Week, the conference provided a platform to discuss and determine best practice for a successful future strategy across the sector and explore gender engagement, recruitment, retention, personal development, mentoring, leadership, empowerment and progression. It also looked at best practise in supporting and guiding women on their professional journey as well as broadening perceptions and encouraging  transformation within the industry.

Mikala Hickey, Deputy Site Manager for Multisol, a global market leader in the formulation, blending and distribution of high value fuel and lubricant additives, base oils and speciality chemicals, was in attendance in charge of an all male team of 19, including a supervisor, 4 team leaders and an engineer.

Mikala welcomes the UKLA’s initiative to encourage transformation within the industry and attended the conference with fellow Multisol employees, Lucy Bentley and Gemma Moon. Lucy is Multisol’s Business Compliance Manager and Gemma is UK Lead Safety Officer. All three are highly regarded within the business and have been recognised for their skills and achievements.

“The Lubricants Industry remains male dominated and a greater breadth of perspective is essential if we are to drive new ideas and spur innovation,” explains Mikala. “Thankfully, Multisol is an enlightened business that believes passionately that equality and diversity are a source for competitive advantage. We are successful because of our people, their knowledge and talent, irrespective of their gender.”

“I hope that the Conference is the first of many industry platforms to reinforce the importance of gender diversity and actively encourage the engagement, recruitment and progression of talented women,” continues Mikala.”Young women planning their school options or career path through university should be in no doubt that the Lubricants Industry means opportunity whether they are looking to study the sciences, as did both Lucy and Gemma, or take a more business oriented route like myself.”