An all-female plumbing business, the Plumbettes, is set to expand its operations from its Brisbane base into Western Australia.
Founder Helen Yost has grown the business from two plumbers in 2014 to four Brisbane-based employees, with three more set to start in the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast.
Within 12 months she plans to have 20 employees in Queensland and 10 in Western Australia.
Ms Yost said there was a growing demand for the service, particularly from stay-at-home mums or those put off by exorbitant bills.
“It’s very popular, it’s a unique idea and people love the fact that we’re a team of ladies coming in to do it,” she said.
“I think the biggest piece of feedback we get back is we are clean and tidy. We show up when we say we are going to show up and customers feel they can relate to us.”
Ms Yost said she had spent a year researching WA’s market for domestic tradies.
“WA actually is definitely the most needing of female tradies because they’re lacking a lot,” she said.
Earlier this month, Business News reported on action being taken to improve the number of women in trades.
According to the latest construction industry snapshot, there are only 77 female apprentices working in WA’s construction industry, representing only 1.9 of the total construction apprentice workforce.
