Mohammed Azeem talks about religious inclusion at HS2

Mohammed Azeem shares his personal lived experience at HS2 Ltd as a Commercial Manager.

“From an early age, I was always interested in the buildings around me, from the terraced house I grew up to my primary school, the local library and then the town hall and council buildings. As I got older and started travelling the world, I witnessed incredible architecture. From the temples at Karnack to the Skyline of Dubai, the ‘wow factor’ of these always had me thinking – how did they build this?

Mohammed Azeem

Fast forward to the 2008 financial crisis, where a lot of people were affected, I made the choice to move into quantity surveying from being a project manager. I went back to university as a mature student and did a part-time BSc (Hons) in Quantity Surveying and Commercial Management (RICS Accredited), with a future aim of becoming chartered at some point in my career.

Growing up as a child in the UK, I did not see Muslim representation in the built environment for me to look up to. In the last 15 years or so, the profession has diversified immensely and I see more ethnic and gender diversity. However, I still don’t see enough people who look like me in senior or director-level commercial positions, so there is work still to do. Improving this is part of the legacy HS2 Ltd is working towards.

As a Muslim working as a quantity surveyor in construction, it’s been great. I’ve experienced colleagues being mindful of fasting during Ramadan and my team is always flexible with working hours. I’ve experienced first hand in many site-based construction offices, space made available for daily prayers, ablution facilities and halal food options.

The office-based support also continues on to sites. I know from speaking to colleagues on our HS2 site-based teams that they allow flexibility on break times for those doing late shifts, evening, or night working, to open their fast, or for them to eat and keep it before dawn.

For me, it’s the little things that matter and make a big difference. I find the informal temporary flexible working policies that are available to me, particularly during Ramadan very useful. For example, I currently have the flexibility to break off from meetings and carry out my daily prayer, even when I’m working in the Snow Hill office as there are prayer rooms onsite.

This sense of belonging and support is not just at the team level but also comes down from the top where my rail systems commercial director embraces and recognises cultural and religious periods in the year such as Ramadan. Management teams tend to touch base with me and other Muslim colleagues to find out if we need further accommodations like annual leave or just to reach out with messages like ‘Ramadan Mubarak’.”

“My experience at HS2 Ltd is of an employer that really demonstrates religious inclusion. They are always open to hearing about how they can best support you.”

Mohammed Azeem - Commercial Manager, CCO 

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