After the pandemic forced the event into a two-year hiatus, the Women Installers Together (WIT) event is back this summer, promising its biggest and best edition to date.
Now in its fourth instalment, the unique event—which takes place on Wednesday 6th July at London Metropolitan University—brings together the UK’s women plumbers, heating engineers, trainees and the organisation’s advocates for a full day packed with talks and discussions hosted by inspiring female figures from the construction industry and beyond.
Among this year’s speakers is Hattie Hasan MBE and founder of WIT. Hattie gave up a career in teaching 30 years ago to pursue her passion and retrain as a self-employed plumber.
Hattie also set up Stopcocks Women Plumbers, the first globally-recognised franchise dedicated to helping women find success in self-employment.
Speaking ahead of a previous year’s event, Hattie said: “My dream in the UK is to enable any woman wishing to be a plumber to be one. There are ample opportunities within Stopcocks, for trained or qualified women plumbers and gas engineers to build strong businesses. These highly visible, successful women will become role models and mentors building the next generation.”
Also appearing and sharing her own story as a headline speaker is former RAF fast-jet fighter pilot, Mandy Hickson.
The event will also include roundtable discussions, offering participants the chance to talk about the current state of the industry for women and Famous for Five Minutes; an open session to hear and share stories from other women in construction
This year’s WIT event is free to all skilled tradeswomen and trainees. Tickets for other attendees are priced at £50.
Why are these events so important?
It’s no secret that the construction industry has traditionally been, and remains, a male-dominated industry. With that being said, any event that not only welcomes women to the sector but proactively encourages discussion on ways to improve diversity is vital when it comes to shaping its long-term future and creating a positive environment that encourages more women to join.
In its recent Diversity and Inclusion in Construction report, the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) found that women only made up 12.3% of the UK’s construction workforce as of 2019, with that figure dropping to as low as 5-7% when it came to BAME representation. The numbers dropped even further, down to 1%, when it came to more senior roles in the industry.
This isn’t to say there hasn’t been notable progress in recent years. According to a Randstad report (via Big Rentz) women in construction management roles increased by 9% in the UK between 2018 and 2020, and Direct Line estimated that in the ten years between 2009 and 2019, the number of female tradespeople had more than doubled from 15,000 to 33,000.
For more information on what to expect from this year’s Women Installers Together event, and to secure your place, head to the Eventbrite page.