Women Builders - Galvanised Steel Roller Shutter Door

Fast and Furious to the Top!!

That's what Janet Shelley MD of Women Builders has her sights set on for the future of her blossoming company. Stanair were more than happy to help along the way and become a small part of the exciting journey she is taking the business.

Janet Shelley Founder of Women Builders is making quite a mark on the construction industry. Women Builders has been in business for 14 months and is growing just the way Janet wants - 'Fast and Furious'!

The business was set up to feed Janet's passion for the trade initially plastering! Janet saw herself develop by training along with the women she employs learning each trade one by one.

Currently the women are close to completing an NVQ Level 2 in Maintenance Operations this will be closely followed by an NVQ Level 3 in a particular trade. Women Builders encourage training, not only for their own staff but also those who are unemployed but want to learn a trade. This training is done in partnership with the Milton Keynes , Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Learning and Skills Council and is part funded by European Social Fund.

At present Women Builders employ 23 staff (80% of which are women), this is soon to change as Janet states: "I'm on a recruitment drive". Women Builders hope that it will soon reduce the reliance on sub-contractors by employing more qualified staff in plumbing, electrical and gas.

The company has been set-up so that everyone works in teams and with everyone being multi-skilled individuals it helps with the wide variety of jobs. Currently Women Builders is sub-contacting kitchen fitting in Milton Keynes ; a team of two operatives will remove and install a new kitchen in just two days!

Women Builders have found the perfect niche in the market which is illustrated in their name. this doesn't stop the questions they get from potential customers, suppliers and the competition 'do you really think that women can do it?'. This typically male dominated industry has come up with many objections along the way, but none have dampened the spirits of anyone at Women Builders.

Since the start of trading Women Builders has had no end of publicity, the most recent of which was on television. The BBC 1 programme InsideOut featured Women Builders on the 24th October 2005. This has generated no end of interest for potential employees and customers. Janet even received a email from a female tiler from Florida ; this lady was told about Women Builders by a family member after the television programme.

The construction industry can be hazardous. With women generally being smaller than men they require smaller protective clothing against these hazards. This has proved to be quite a challenge for Janet and her team - particularly trying to find protective boots in a size 2!!

Amongst the types of jobs Women Builders have carried out in their first 14 months of trading include:

Schools -revamping toilets at Willen School , and Catherine Haslett School were various jobs were completed in a tight time scale.

Single storey extension, which proved to be an important learning curve for all involved.

Stanair installed a Roller Shutter and repaired a Gate on the Women Builders site to assist with security and access into the building. When we asked Janet about her Stanair experience she commented;

'Extremely good, in fact Stanair was the first company where I felt that a letter of thanks was deserved, but as usual I did not get round to it! Sorry.'

Since installing the Roller Shutter and repairing the Gate to the Women Builders site our sister company Shire Security has been contacted to quote for security within the building. We are yet to hear if we were successful in this tender. If we are successful there may be a part two to this case study, watch this space!!

If you want further information about the products or services Stanair or our sister company Shire Security offer please do not hesitate to contact us

Back to case studies...