This month for our staff profile, we are celebrating one of our incredible drivers - Sophie Barney who has been with us since July 2023!
It can be quite rare to find a female truck driver as the industry is still heavily dominated by men although there has been more encouragement for young women to break into these heavily stereotyped industries in recent years. Sophie is one of those inspiring women who is breaking the mould to pursue her passions and career aspirations here at B&A Group and we’ve been absolutely delighted to see her flourish alongside her colleagues.
Sophie’s career began a couple of years ago where she wanted to pursue her general interest in trucks and large vehicles. With little hesitation, she took her class 2 driving test in May 2021 and quickly decided that she wanted to become a tipper driver which led to her completing her class 1 test only a year later. She is now a fully qualified, class 2 tipper driver and her role here includes collecting and delivering many different materials including muck away and stone/aggregates.
We asked Sophie what she loves about this line of work, to which she replied: “I chose tipper driving because it can be quite fast paced at times, which I like and you’re always on the go; going to different sites and meeting new people”.
Understandably, it can be quite daunting for any young woman thinking about branching into the truck/HGV driving industry and there are many common concerns that often prevent them from taking the leap. We wanted to ask Sophie what it was like in her experience to get a first hand view of what to expect, she went on to say: “I think the main thing I've found since tipper driving is that most sites or places that I've been to have always had kind and helpful people and I don't feel like I've been treated any differently just because I'm a female driver.”
One of Sophie’s favourite things about her job is that she is able to work independently and enjoys driving the truck to different places and the challenges that this can bring such as when a site may be a little tricky to navigate in and out of!
Sophie has said that since starting at B&A, all of the drivers and everyone on site have always been so kind and helpful which has made a massive difference to her development and confidence whilst excelling in her career as she has felt that she’s been able to ask for help when she needs it without receiving judgement or feeling like a bother. She feels comfortable and has a safe space to be a part of the team in the same way that everyone else is, which we’re pleased to hear as it has always been a strong goal for us to be able to provide such an environment for all of our staff.
When Sophie isn’t busy driving one of our iconic trucks, she continues to pursue her passion and attends car and truck events where possible as well as watching Formula One and supporting her favourite driver, Lewis Hamilton. Aside from that, Sophie also enjoys seeing family and finding some time to relax as well as taking her little dog Coco for walks.
We’d just like to say a massive thank you to Sophie for all of her incredible work and for being such a lovely member of the B&A team, it’s been an absolute pleasure to see you pursue your dreams of becoming a tipper driver and we’re so excited to see all of the projects that you’ll be a part of in the future!
