Business Executive Assistant to CEO, Charlie Owen

Education and early career

I studied Chemistry at Durham University, graduating in 2024. During my degree I became interested in how large, complex businesses work: how they make decisions, manage operations, and grow. That drew me towards industry rather than academia or lab-based roles.

Before finishing my degree, I completed an internship at Ketton cement works. It was my first real exposure to heavy industry, and it gave me a much clearer picture of what Heidelberg Materials does and how it does it. I left with a genuine interest in the business, and fortunately, an offer to join the graduate scheme.

My experience at Heidelberg Materials

I joined the graduate programme in the major projects team. The first phase was designed to give me a grounding across the whole business, and it did exactly that. Over several months I travelled across the country spending time at our quarries, cement plants, concrete operations, and asphalt sites. I joined sales managers on ride-along days and sat in on commercial conversations I would not have been part of anywhere else so early in a career.

Understanding the fundamentals of how our industry operates mattered. When I began bid writing to win contracts for the major projects team, I was not starting from scratch. I understood our products, our operations, and the constraints the business works within. The work involved competing for some of the UK's largest infrastructure contracts.

One contract I worked on was Net Zero Teesside. We secured the work, and the project became the first construction project in the UK to use evoZero cement, our low-carbon product manufactured in Norway. Seeing a contract go from a written document to a live construction site, and knowing the role I played in making it happen, showed me the real-world impact that can be made in this industry.

My current role

I now work as Executive Assistant to Simon Willis, CEO of Heidelberg Materials UK. The role covers more ground than the title might suggest. I have worked on projects spanning logistics and supply chain modelling, financial analysis, and global workforce benchmarking, alongside sitting on our AI Steering Committee. I have had sight of decisions being made at the top of a major business and even been involved in shaping and delivering some of them.

That vantage point has been the best possible education. It has sharpened how I think about strategy, how I communicate with senior stakeholders, and my understanding of how a large organisation can translate ambition into action.

Looking ahead

Starting my career at Heidelberg Materials was the right decision. I came in as a chemistry graduate with an interest in how businesses work. Less than two years on, I have written bids that have secured major national contracts, worked on projects most people at this stage of a career would not get near, and built skills I could not have developed anywhere else. I am still early in that journey, and I am glad I started it here.