Laurens at the hub of all the action in Belfast port

She grew up deep inland in Canada, but now Lauren Mallett is braving storms on the quayside in Belfast to ensure the steel needed for building projects right across the island of Ireland is handled and discharged efficiently. Nigel Tilson reports

THE POST: Distribution hub manager, Port of Belfast.

THE POSTHOLDER: Lauren Mallett

How did you reach your current position at the Port of Belfast?

I must admit if you'd told me when I was growing up in Edmonton in Canada that I would end up living in Northern Ireland, let alone manage the Port of Belfast's steel yard, I would have looked at you as if you had two heads.

It's not even as if Edmonton is anywhere near the sea - it's almost 720 miles from the Pacific (and much further heading towards the Atlantic).

But life's like that. There are always plenty of surprises to keep you on your toes.

I ended up in Belfast after I met my husband - who is Northern Ireland born and bred - while backpacking during a year out in Australia.

I continued my studies in Canada and spent my summers in Belfast working as a sales co-ordinator for a local manufacturing company. The skills I learned doing that were relevant to a role which became available at the port's steel yard. After two years I was promoted to my current position.

What does the job entail?

The Port of Belfast is the largest break bulk port on the island of Ireland, annually handling over 650,000 tonnes of materials used in the construction industry.

Steel is obviously an important element of that and the Port invested 3m to develop the island's only dedicated steel handling facility at York Dock and an island-wide distribution hub for Corus Steel. The stevedore, William Reid, also invested in new handling equipment.

The steel which comes into Belfast ends up with customers as far away as Cork and my role is to manage the Corus Steel operation in York Dock.

I work with William Reid to ensure that cargoes are discharged quickly. I also ensure the stockyard is managed efficiently and oversee the onward distribution with our haulier, Wallace Brothers.

I liaise very closely with Corus and its customers to make sure that orders are delivered on time and I'm also responsible for maintaining health and safety standards in the yard.

Describe a typical day at York Dock?

The working day usually begins at 8am and finishes at 5pm, although as in any customer-focused job sometimes you need to abandon what you had planned for the evening in order to get something turned round quickly.

The work is largely dependent on when shipments arrive.

In an average week we discharge 1,500 to 2,000 tonnes of steel, which arrives weekly from the Port of Mostyn in Wales. Usually it takes about one and a half days to unload the vessel.

When we're not discharging shipments, I'm planning for the week ahead, matching up what customers need with the stock we've received from Corus. There's also quite a bit of internal reporting to do as well as invoicing and keeping in touch with customers.

Are there any particular challenges?

It's my responsibility to ensure that the facility is managed in accordance with operational agreements with Corus; these relate to all discharge, storage, handling and loading operations.

The steel yard is split up into about 50 bays and I need to ensure that the right steel is stored in the right area, which isn't as easy as it sounds.

It's a bit like one of those children's picture puzzles where you have to move individual squares round a grid until you complete the picture. Some weeks it can be a real mindbender.

 What do you enjoy most about your job?

I love having that mix of indoor and outdoor work, and the banter on the quayside is great.

It also keeps you on your toes. There's always some curve ball which you have to work your way round, be it bad weather which has delayed a sailing or a last minute order. I've learnt to expect the unexpected.

I also love working down in the Port. It's a fascinating place and the landscape is always changing.

For instance, outside my window I can see the SS Nomadic, Titanic's tender ship, and on the other side on the Victoria Channel I can watch progress at Titanic Quarter, one of the largest regeneration projects in Europe which the Port is co-promoting.

There's so much history in this part of Belfast. The port's been going now for almost 400 years, but York Dock is a relative newcomer.

It was originally built in the 1880s as a new tidal dock to cope with Belfast's burgeoning trade as the city industrialised and in the 1970s it was used as a roll-on/roll-off terminal for freight bound to Heysham.

Where my office stands used to be in the middle of Belfast Lough until the Harbour Commissioners reclaimed the land.

There's a real sense of community throughout the Harbour Estate and it's nice to be involved in something which has such history. The port was instrumental to Belfast's emergence as a city and it's still playing an integral role in the city's future. It's quite exciting to be part of that.

Even in the 21st century some people might think a steel yard is a strange place for a woman to work. What would you say to them?

Back home I graduated in environmental sciences, largely to do with monitoring air, water and soil for Alberta's huge oil and gas industries.

I worked with a civil engineering firm specialising in industrial site preparation and heavy construction projects.

One of my first assignments involved a power station upgrade and out of 2,000 people working on site there were only two women: myself and the nurse. Nothing has compared to that since.

I don't even think that I'm the first woman to work down here, so I can't even claim to have broken new ground. While there's no denying that the ports and maritime sectors are still male-dominated, so what? It's never bothered me. If you go into a job thinking this or that is going to be a problem then it will inevitably end up as a problem and you'll limit what you can achieve. People judge you on how well you deliver results and how you interact with them. Industry has moved on and I don't think the fact I don't have a Y chromosome has any bearing on my ability to do the job.

Have you noticed any differences in work cultures between Canada and Northern Ireland?

In some senses they're very familiar. A few of the 'larger than life' character types that I knew in Canada would fit in very well in Belfast. Given the amount of migration to Canada from Northern Ireland I wouldn't be surprised if they came from the same gene pool.

On the other hand, Canadians are more involved with their work; it must be the North American influence.

For example, back home it wouldn't be uncommon in a similar operation for all the employees to begin the day with communal warm-up exercises, and there is some evidence that such an approach can actually improve health and safety levels.

However, I don't think Northern Ireland is quite ready for that just yet.

Any special interests outside work?

A few bits and pieces. I really enjoy cooking and I am currently taking a photography-based art and design class.

What advice would you offer anyone interested in your line of work?

You need to enjoy working with people, and have good negotiating and persuasive skills - you have to juggle the needs of customers, stevedores, hauliers and suppliers, and be prepared to change plans as circumstances dictate. Also be prepared to get windblown. There's not much protection from the elements on the quayside when there's a storm blowing.