When Samantha Burchell has a good idea, chances are you will see a light flick on above her head.

That isn't a figure of speech either.

The Croydon woman is responsible for keeping the lights on for 230,000 homes and businesses across the borough and with a workload like that it should come as no surprise that she has now been named UK’s top 50 women in engineering: Returners and transferrers.

But when the list was published yesterday (June 24), the UK Power Networks’ operations manager was beside herself with excitement.

“Just to be nominated was amazing, but when I found out I had made the top 50, I was blown away, I couldn’t believe it," she said.

"I am very lucky that I love my job, love what I do every day and I am very passionate about my role.

"My work gives me a feeling of great satisfaction and I encourage any women thinking of joining engineering roles to grasp the opportunity and go for it.

"It is hard work, but the years of study and long hours have all paid off, and to have been recognised in this way is a true honour. Hopefully reading my story will inspire other women to follow this path too.”

Her role requires her to lead the experienced technical teams, including engineers and 60 field staff that run the electricity network round the clock.

“Every day is different," she said.

"Power cuts are rare but sometimes we face power cuts affecting many of our customers and that is when my adrenalin kicks in and my problem-solving comes to the fore.

"Like the rest of my team I have worked on standby, restoring electricity supplies in the middle of the night when I’m tired, it’s raining hard and dark.

"Now, with management responsibilities, I attend more meetings, but I still like being hands-on in emergencies."

But her career wasn't always shaping up this way.

She started in clerical and safety roles, with qualifications in languages that were not relevant to engineering.

From there she spent several years re-training to gain the skills needed to achieve her ambition of becoming an electrical engineer.

“There still aren’t many women in electrical engineering but when women do go into this career they tend to succeed," she said.

"You need to be a strong person, but you can succeed if you work hard and stick at it.”