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first female plumber joins trust
16 December 2005
Eighteen year-old Michelle Holdsworth has always wanted a hands on job – and now she’s getting it training as a plumber.
Michelle from Holme Wood is Bradford Building Services’ first female apprentice and bosses at the repairs and maintenance operation – part of Bradford Community Housing Trust – are hoping she is the start of more women recruits.
Last year, Michelle signed up for a plumbing apprenticeship at Huddersfield College after getting a job in the maintenance section at the Challenge College in Bradford where she was also a former pupil.
In September, she joined Bradford Building Services (BBS) as part of their recruitment drive to attract young apprentices into plumbing, joinery, bricklaying and electrical work.
Michelle is attending college one day a week and getting valuable work experience the rest of the week she is working with experienced plumbers at BBS.
She has joined a big operation. BBS deal with over 60,000 repairs a year providing a key customer service for housing tenants across the district.
Michelle, who is based in Business Development, at BBS’ Saltaire depot, said: “I’ve always been interested in how things work and I’m learning new skills all the time.
“One day I can be fitting a shower in an elderly persons flat and the next I’m working on one of our housing estates repairing someone’s bath taps. No day is the same.”
“BBS’ apprenticeship scheme is a great way of learning the job through training at college and getting experience on one of our home improvement schemes.
“I’m really enjoying it and I am looking forward to being fully qualified in two years time. More females should look into apprenticeships.”
Delroy Beverley, Head of Business Development at BBS, said: “Michelle is doing extremely well and we are delighted she is progressing her career with us. She is enthusiastic, keen to learn and is a good team member.”
“We want to encourage more young people like Michelle to look into taking modern trade apprenticeships such as plumbing.
“It is a well known that national construction firms are encouraging more women to join the industry to help address skill shortages. Bradford Building Services is also actively working to promote diversity and under representation and also improve skill levels locally.
“The recruitment of people like Michelle shows our ambitions to address these issues.”
Michelle is in the second year of her NVQ Level 2 training. She will then need to study for two more years on Level 3 to qualify as a trained plumber.