Welcome to the website of Katie Cranes aka Katie Kelleher

My working life started out with me working in sales while studying English Literature at university and I managed to continued in sales for the next 10 years, moving from mobile phones, to publication advertising sales, websites and finally ending up working as a trades and labour recruitment consultant. In October 2014 after much deliberation and CV sending I  started a huge career change and started as the first female on the Lifting Technician apprenticeship with Select / Laing O’Rourke, this apprenticeship enabled me to operate Tower cranes, Mobile Cranes, Crawler Cranes, Pedestrian cranes, do Slinging/Signalling, Traffic marshalling and MEWPS.

I am really passionate about women in construction and Apprenticeships and I often speak about the difficulties and experiences working as a women within the construction industry, as well as championing apprenticeships for all, I am a STEM Ambassador have spoken at schools and college events to inspire people into the industry, I have also taken part in parliamentary committees on apprenticeships, and have appeared on London Live,  BBC breakfast, BBC 100 Women season, the Metro and Stylist magazine.

In 2016 while working at Crossrail I was appointed as a board member for the Strategic Transport Apprenticeship Taskforce chaired by TFL commissioner Mike Brown, aimed at getting more apprentices in transport.

I won Infrastructure Apprentice of the year while working at Crossrail in 2017 and the WeAreTheCity Rising Star Award in Construction,  I was awarded as one of the WES Top 50 Women in Engineering 2018,  a Semi Finalist  for the Construction News Inspire Me award and have most recently been named by Construction News as one of 15 ones to watch in 2019!

I am working hard to try and change the face of construction by openly encouraging more apprentices and more women into the field and by using myself as an active contactable role model. Actively using social media across many platforms to showcase my experiences and the benefits of working within the industry.

I  have been very lucky in my short career to work on two major infrastructure projects in London – Crossrail at Tottenham Court Road and I am currently working on the Tideway project.

Personal Life –

In my spare time I collect retro games and consoles and I believe the number currently sits at over 1000 games across ranging from the ZX Spectrum, Mega Drive, SNES to the more recent PS4.

Favorite console – MEGA CD………………….and Mega drive

Favourite Game – Too hard not sure I can even answer that

Most recent purchase – Flink on Mega CD, I am currently looking for a full set.

Favourite handheld – Gameboy

Currently playing – Kingdom Hearts 3 and Call of duty Modern Warfare

I also have a savage trainer collection and spend a lot of time cherishing my beloved Z4M which has seen a few trips around Europe and a good few laps around the Nurburgring.

Other hobbies include enjoying city breaks, nice cocktails and trialing new restaurants.