14
BUSINESS AND TRAINING
House of Plumbing Women in Plumbing
By
Rory Macnamara
An idea that has been brewing for some time has now come to fruition .
The House of Plumbing , a member of the Norcros Group – a UK listed company – launched its Women in Plumbing apprenticeship programme . Norcros has been active in new graduate processes and such initiatives have the support all the way up to the Chairman of the Board in the UK .
From four thousand ( 4000 ) applicants , twenty ( 20 ) women were selected to undergo the apprentice training as plumbers , right up to obtaining the Red Seal .
Plumbing Africa chatted to Robin Roberson , General manager at House of Plumbing about this initiative .
The selected women listening attentively
“ Appreciating that there are very few women plumbers , we felt that to commit to both women and plumbing we , as a major plumbing merchant would embark on this programme from beginning to end . We looked at various Colleges and finally settled on PCD College to undertake the training and see the apprentices through to their trade test .
This is a costly exercise as we also provide opportunities for practical training , product training , stipends , and the cost of training , but we believe it is worth it .”
“ The Norcros HR team managed the interviewing of the applicants – no mean task when we had stringent criteria – but they ended up selecting the best young women . While the group is undergoing their apprenticeships , House of Plumbing provides additional training not included in normal apprentice training , like , business training , managing a business , finance , and such to empower the women to understand the basics of running a business .
“ While this is a House of Plumbing idea it has the full backing of Norcros and we aim to follow on each year with a new batch coming
The group after ribbon cutting with Norcros and House of Plumbing members
through , depending on the success of this tranche of ladies . I am confident it will prove successful , and we are proud to be a part of training plumbers to obtain their Red Seal ,” concluded Robin .
House of Plumbing
All photos by © Plumbing Africa Rory Macnamara
Kevin Swan Robin Roberson
The launch event was held at PCD College
The official HOP Women in Plumbing logo
where the CEO of Norcros , Kevin Swan , welcomed the guests and the apprentices , of which some had their own say as to what the initiative meant to them . PA
“…. but we believe it is worth it .”
www . plumbingafrica . co . za @ plumbingonline @ plumbingonline @ PlumbingAfricaOnline May 2022 Volume 28 I Number 3