“Why Stopcocks exist” A very brief explanation from Stopcocks Women Plumbers Director Mica May of why Stopcocks exists and what the #WITConference is all about.
Three Stopcocks Women Plumbers
Aims
Why Stopcocks and what are we doing this for?
To change the plumbing industry into one where women plumbers and gas engineers are the norm not the exception and where customers expect good customer service rather than fearing rogue traders.
To create a plumbing industry where women plumbers and gas engineers are treated with respect and supported by all their colleagues.
It’s our firm belief that this will be good for everyone in the industry and for customers.
Objectives
To run a sustainable company of self-employed women plumbers with successful businesses,
To create an army of highly visible role models through the Stopcocks Women Plumbers brand,
– customers will be aware that they can choose women plumbers and gas engineers
– women will see women plumbers and gas engineers frequently
Girls and women will realise they can follow careers in skilled trades
Girls and boys will realise they can do any kind of job
Why Stopcocks began? Hattie Hasan found it impossible to get a job as a plumber in 1990, so she employed herself.
Women were leaking out
Hattie’s customers loved her and her business was very successful, but in 2006 after building her first website Hattie was inundated by emails from women wanting to become plumbers. Many had excelled during their training, and like her been unable to gain employment in the industry. Women were leaking out.
Fast forward through many attempts to change the way women are perceived in the plumbing trade to Stopcocks Group Ltd’s launch as a franchise in 2017 with London, the South Coast, Oldham/Rochdale and Calder Valley all represented by Stopcocks Women Plumbers.
Petra (London South and Central) says “I don’t know what I’d have done without Stopcocks, I wouldn’t be running my business as a plumber and gas engineer – I’d probably be on a till at Tesco if I was lucky”.
Julie (Oldham/Saddleworth) “After training I worked as a plumber on my own but it is really stressful trying to do marketing and call-taking and invoice-chasing, as well as having to look after a family and do some actual plumbing! Now I can relax knowing all that is taken care of, and the work and money will keep coming in.”
Janet (Aldershot) “The mentoring is great, I just pick up the phone and there’s Hattie who can help me deal with tricky problems”.
Jennie (Weymouth) “The technical mentoring is great. I can discuss jobs before I go or while I’m at the customers’ houses and work out the best and most suitable solution for them”.
Trust me I’m a woman plumber
The Stopcocks brand is now well known and beloved by the media, growing the awareness of women in skilled trades nationally.
Since becoming a franchise, Hattie and Stopcocks have attracted well respected industry sponsors for the first ever national women’s conference for plumbers and gas engineers in London, September 2017. HPM Magazine are partnering with Hattie, Stopcocks and Polypipe to ensure the event is a huge success.
So far those sponsoring the conference so that it is free for delegates to attend are Vaillant, Roca Bristan and Spirotech.
The purpose of the event is to give women installers from all over UK an opportunity to get together for the first time and begin the process of building a community of women installers.
Go here for tickets and to find out more.
Hattie, Stopcocks founder says
“I created Stopcocks to celebrate women and that’s why it’s now a national franchise. Even though we don’t work on a level playing field, and even though some men don’t want us to play on their field – we’re going to damn well play on it, and we’re going to play on it well.”
