Some of the most significant changes in an industry do not start in a boardroom. They start much more quietly. In this case, it was a Christmas lunch.
Around seven years ago, Nicola Trivett, General Manager of Summertown Interiors, helped organise a small gathering for women working across Dubai’s fit-out sector. A WhatsApp group was set up to manage the logistics. Nobody gave it much thought beyond that. But the group kept growing. Women kept joining. The conversations kept going long after the lunch plates were cleared.
That group became Fit-Out Superwomen: A professional forum, a mentorship network, and, as of International Women’s Day 2026, a fully launched app connecting women across the construction and interior fit-out industry. Nicola co-founded it alongside Claire Louise Spring Emily Perkins Gemma Hughes and what they have built together reflects something she has championed throughout her career: That the fit-out industry works better when more voices are genuinely included.
Filling a Gap That Should Not Exist
The fit-out and construction sector in the UAE has made real strides in recent years. But the numbers on gender representation remain stark. Women account for roughly 9% of the UAE construction workforce on average, and many who do build careers in the industry describe a persistent pattern: being overlooked in decision-making, excluded from informal networks, and expected to work twice as hard to establish the same credibility as their male counterparts.
Nicola has spoken openly about these realities. She has described the experience of constantly needing to prove competence even after establishing credibility, and the particular weight of navigating career transitions and leadership while also managing the demands of motherhood. “Women supporting women is the fastest route to closing gaps in opportunity, confidence, and leadership,” she has said. “It is about connection, empowerment, and giving every ambitious woman the room to thrive.”
Fit-Out Superwomen was built to do exactly that. Members can access peer mentoring, share industry insights, and connect with women at every stage of their careers, across companies, disciplines, and seniority levels. It is not a closed network. It is a practical tool for changing career trajectories.
The decision to launch the app on International Women’s Day was deliberate. It marks a moment, but it also signals a direction. Nicola was recently featured in Commercial Interior Design alongside her fellow co-founders, where she spoke about the realities women face in the sector. Read the full feature here.
What Summertown Looks Like From the Inside
Nicola’s advocacy outside the business is entirely consistent with what she has helped build within it. Summertown is not a company that talks about inclusion as an aspiration. It measures it.
Women represent 25% of Summertown’s workforce, nearly four times the UAE sector average. Across a team of 90 people spanning 18 nationalities, every employee holds an active Personal Development Plan and every member of staff completed their annual performance review this year. The company has held Great Place to Work recognition, with 88% of the team recommending Summertown as a workplace.
That kind of culture does not maintain itself. It is the result of consistent investment: over 11 hours of training per employee annually, a wellbeing programme covering physical, mental, and financial health, enhanced parental leave, and long-service recognition that goes beyond the legal minimum. This year, every employee who took parental leave returned to work. Zero incidents of discrimination were recorded.
These figures sit alongside Summertown’s environmental metrics in the company’s annual sustainability report, published every year since 2013. The message is intentional: People and planet are not separate priorities.
Explore how we turn this commitment into action, visit our Sustainability Hub.
A Leadership Model Worth Noting
What makes Nicola’s position distinctive is the coherence between what she advocates publicly and what she practises as a leader. The culture she has helped shape at Summertown Interiors, and the community she has built through Fit-Out Superwomen, come from the same place: A conviction that sustainable workplaces are as much about how people are treated as what materials go into the walls.
Her Journey2030 strategy at Summertown extends this thinking across the whole business. Sustainability targets cover not just carbon and waste, but workforce diversity, training investment, and employee wellbeing. Progress is published annually and held to account publicly.
The fit-out industry in the UAE is evolving. Client expectations around ESG are rising. The demand for certified, responsible interiors is growing. But some of the most meaningful progress is happening at the level of the people who actually do the work: In the forums being built, the networks being formed, and the leaders choosing to make inclusion a measurable priority rather than a well-meaning statement.
Follow Nicola Trivett on LinkedIn and learn more about Summertown Interiors at summertown.ae.
