Technical Chapter Lead Lucy made it her mission to ensure the new Defender was built for women too

Lucy is one of the engineers responsible for the successful new Defender. Like most JLR female engineers, Lucy was keen on maths and science at school. “I liked subjects with definite answers – where you’re right or wrong. Rather than the humanities, which can be woolly.” Engineering seemed an obvious choice, never mind its reputation as a male-dominated career.

“My mum used to watch Air Crash Investigation, the TV series that analysed plane crashes. I liked the idea of understanding why something happened. I liked puzzles and figuring out how things worked. I used to take things apart at home, like DVD players and the TV remote. It drove my dad mad.”

“When I decided to go into engineering, my nan said, ‘Isn’t that a boy’s job?’. But she was very traditional. At university I was one of three girls on the entire engineering course.”

Lucy studied Materials Engineering at Loughborough – she was the first member of her family to go to university – and while there she took an undergraduate course with JLR.

Lucy started at JLR on the graduate scheme in 2015. She has always worked on interiors and moved on to the new Defender 90 and 110 projects in 2017. Lucy’s team worked on all cabin trim, apart from the instrument panel, console, seats and doors.  “I was responsible for various boot trim components including their design and development. This included the load floor, the storage compartment below and the luggage tonneau cover, which was all-new. It’s fabric with bungee cord loops and is more practical than a traditional roller blind.” Unlike a fixed parcel shelf board, it can be removed and rolled up.

“The Defender boot and floor cabin trim had to be wipe-clean – there is no carpet. They had to be tough, durable and versatile. It was a luxury offering but had to be typically Defender, and that’s not an easy balance.”

How did Lucy influence the Defender’s design, to make it more female friendly? “The floor was a rubber material and all new. We had to test whether high heels would mark or damage it. I put my heels on to see what happened.” It passed.

“We also had to consider: where do women put their handbags? We thought of a cabin hook, like we have in the boot – the so-called curry hook. But on the Defender, there are plenty of storage compartments.”

On a previous project, Lucy stopped a proposal for a small hole in the boot floor to access the compartment underneath. “If a woman’s handbag fell over in the boot, 80 per cent of the contents could fall down the hole.”

The female buyer is important for the Defender. “We tried to get away from the tough man image. Women are a target audience.” Lucy is now managing a team of engineers working on different projects.

She says she’s had the odd bad experience, “of some men thinking the young female in the meeting must be there to take notes. It’s a lot better now.  JLR is really progressive and values diversity.”

Away from work, Lucy is a special constable. ‘My mum worked for the police. It’s voluntary, working alongside regular officers. I’ve been doing it since 2017. If you call the police in Warwickshire, you might get me. “It’s a real challenge and you’re dealing with important issues. Big issues at work – is this new part a millimetre too small? – suddenly are put into perspective. The night before, you might have been dealing with someone attacked with a knife. It gives you a more rounded view of the world.”