Lack of male brickies to be solved by the..Brickettes

SCOTS construction chiefs are turning to girl power to plug a shortage of brickies.

They are launching a unique recruitment drive to attract more women into the virtually men-only building trade.

From labourers and bricklayers to site managers and surveyors, they believe the time is ripe for women to demolish another male bastion.

Latest figures reveal that less than two per cent of new Scots recruits to the trade in the last year were women.

Now the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) is aiming to tempt a generation of "brickettes" into the trade to head off a looming skills crisis, which has already led to a dramatic improvement in pay and working conditions.

But the industry has failed to recruit women in any significant numbers, not least because it still suffers from the stereotype of rowdy, male-dominated workplaces.

The recruitment drive will begin in the New Year. Graeme Ogilvy, the CITB's Scottish manager, says girl power is key to the industry's future. "If we do not have a strong workforce where we can fill every role, we will then be forced to bring more people in from abroad," he said.

A Equal Opportunities Commission in Scotland said: "It is encouraging that efforts are being made to bridge the gap," said a spokeswoman.

I'M ONE OF A KIND

EDINBURGH-based project manager Sandra Cummings admits that after six years in her job she has yet to meet another woman who co- ordinates major building projects.

Brechin-born Sandra, 27, who graduated in environmental science, entered the building trade after a student job laying fibre-optic cables.

She says she has always commanded respect from male colleagues - even the ones who once wolf-whistled at her. "That all stops when you start to work with them," she says.

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