Dickies has released a report into the best parts of the country for women in the trades, taking into account average pay, cost of living, number of businesses and current job vacancies.
The report found that the top 3 regions for female plumbers were:
Scotland – With the highest number of plumbing businesses (1731) and second-highest amount of vacancies (303), Scotland proved to top the rankings for women looking to better their careers within the plumbing industry.
Wales – Wales ranked as the second-best region, taking into factors such as having the lowest average living costs (£409.80), as well as being home to the third-highest number of plumbing businesses.
West Midlands – While also ranking in the top five for construction, the West Midlands ranked third for female plumbers with 226 job vacancies and an average salary of £31,307.
For women’s careers in the wider construction industry, the results were:
North East – Topping the list as the best location, weekly pay was the second-highest (£1,081), the average weekly cost of living was the lowest, (£408.30), and the average price of a house was £151,206.
West Midlands – Coming in second, the West Midlands has 832 registered businesses, with an average of 1,772 job vacancies available. Even though the average house price was quite high (£231,893), the average cost of living was quite low at £425.90.
Scotland – Ranking in the top 5 for 3 out of the 4 trades, Scotland has a relatively high average salary (£42,500) and the second-highest number of construction businesses (1,800).
Billie, a qualified female plasterer who got into the trade through her father, said: ‘It’s most important to know that no matter the job, women can! No job is too big or, load too heavy. Plastering is my passion, even if society says it shouldn’t be.’
Mark Tapper, head of E-Commerce at Dickies Workwear said: “It’s definitely empowering to see more women joining the trades industry and building progressive career paths. What used to be quite a male-dominated industry is now starting to become more diverse and strengthened by female involvement.
“At Dickies Workwear, we not only encourage more tradeswomen to seek out the best environments and paths for their careers but also hope for more businesses to inspire their female employees too!”
To view the full study on the best locations for UK tradeswomen, as well as learn about a few key tradeswomen in history, check out on the Dickies Workwear blog.
