Access Marketing’s Sioned Yates on the future of fenestration

Access Marketing is celebrating two years in business. Founded by Sioned Yates to provide practical, strategic marketing support for businesses across the fenestration, construction and building sectors, the business has worked with manufacturers, suppliers, trade organisations and industry events.

In this final part of a three-part Q&A, Sioned (SY) discusses her newest project, Women in Fenestration Network, promoting positive change in the industry, and future plans for the business.

Why has Women in Fenestration become such an important focus?

SY: I’ve worked in this industry for a long time and it’s given me a fantastic career. I suppose Women in Fenestration feels like an opportunity to give something back.

But it’s also about creating something I wish I’d had access to earlier in my career.

For me, it isn’t about creating a women’s “club”. It’s about connection, development, mentoring, visibility and opportunity.

There are some incredibly talented women working across the fenestration industry and I’d like to see more of them progressing through businesses, taking senior roles and having the confidence and opportunity to put themselves forward.

I’d like to see the network make a real impact as it develops. For example, someone saying, “I went for the promotion because I got the confidence to go for it after attending a Women in Fenestration event.”

That would be a fantastic outcome.

I also feel very strongly that men need to be part of the conversation. We’re not going to create positive change by excluding half of the industry. It has to be something we do together.

I’m really proud of where Women in Fenestration is heading and I think there is so much more we can do with it.

What does positive change look like in the industry?

SY: For me, it’s an industry where good people can progress because they’re good at what they do.

Where young people look at fenestration and construction and see a genuine career.

Where women don’t just enter the industry but progress through it into management, technical, operational and board-level positions.

It’s also an industry where businesses invest in their people and where we’re better at bringing new talent into the sector.

I’d love us to get better at talking about ourselves too.

This industry has changed massively. There is so much innovation, technology and expertise within it and the products we manufacture and sell have a real impact on people’s homes, buildings, energy use and everyday lives.

I’d like more people outside our industry to understand that.

What are you most excited about over the next two years?

SY: Growing Access Marketing definitely, but not just getting bigger for the sake of it.

I want to work with businesses where I can genuinely make a difference. I’d like to do more of the strategic work where I can become part of the senior team, understand where the business wants to go and help shape the marketing around it.

I’d also like to continue building the Access Marketing model, with trusted specialists around me who I can bring in when they’re needed.

I’m incredibly excited about Women in Fenestration too. I genuinely think we’re only scratching the surface of what it could become.

And personally, I probably need to get a bit braver about putting myself out there!

I’ve spent most of my career promoting other people’s businesses and brands. I’m very comfortable doing that.

Talking about myself? Not quite so comfortable.

But maybe, after two years of Access Marketing, it’s time I got a little better at that too.

What would you say to a business that doesn’t know where to start?

SY: Don’t start with the marketing. Start with the business goals and objectives!

What are you trying to achieve? Where do you want your growth to come from? Who are your best customers? Why do they buy from you? Where are your enquiries coming from now? What’s working and what’s not?

Then look at the marketing.

You don’t always need to spend more money either. Sometimes the first thing I find is that a business is already spending money in lots of different places, but nobody has really stopped and asked why.

Marketing shouldn’t just be a collection of social posts, emails, adverts, websites and campaigns.

It should be helping the business get where it wants to go.

Two years in, Sioned’s focus remains on helping businesses communicate with greater clarity, consistency and confidence.

Whether through strategic marketing, PR, thought leadership, event activity or the Women in Fenestration network, her approach is centred on creating meaningful connections and giving good businesses the visibility they deserve.

“The best work happens when you become a genuine extension of the client’s team,” she said.

“It is about understanding what they are trying to achieve, finding the strongest story and then making sure it reaches the people who need to hear it. That is what I want Access Marketing to continue doing over the next two years – and beyond.”

For more information about Access Marketing, visit: Access Marketing

Or for more information about the Women in Fenestration Network, visit: Women in Fenestration