Talk to us on 0800 8620010

How easy is it to become an apprentice plumber?

Trainees contact us an a daily basis asking about becoming an apprentice plumber with us.

I’m sorry to have to burst your bubble.

In spite of what the government tell us, apprenticeships in plumbing (more so than many other trades) are about as rare as a black rhino.

Well maybe not quite, but for someone who is over 19 and lives independently, they often don’t work.

Recently we were talking to a female plumber who works in maintenance for her local authority. She has a male apprentice plumber who works with her. He is in his forties and has a wife and children. His wages? £10 a day. That just about pays for him to get to work and back.

He’s one of the lucky ones.

Think about it. Plumbers by and large work alone, possibly in twos. How can 1 person make enough to be a teacher as well as do their job?

Even though the government tell us that taking on an apprentice will pay a company back big dividends in the  long term, a business that makes its money out of the work one person can do can’t afford to support the time it takes to teach another.

Only very big firms can afford to take on apprentices, even many councils only pay £10 a day (correct at time of writing).

That’s why we have taken a totally novel approach.

We’re helping as many women as we can to complete their qualifications by mentoring them, as self-employed Stopcocks Women Plumbers*, they can earn their own money. We mentor and support them while they complete their qualification by being assessed in the workplace.

We’re constantly at the forefront making it easier for women to become plumbers and influencing the industry.

We take whatever the situation is and we adapt.

Give us a ring on 0800 8620010 or send us an email and we can give you a bit of advice about your options

*Stopcocks Women Plumbers is a franchise, as well as providing a full mentoring service for our franchisees we provide all the business support you’ll need to run your own successful business as a self-employed Stopcocks Woman Plumber in your local area. See here for more information.