In the press

Evening Standard - 8th December 2007

Banker was so fed up with builders she set up her own company

A WOMAN who quit the City to set up her own building firm has been honoured with a business award. Former investment banker Kerrie Keeling founded A Woman's Touch in 2003 because she was tired of the antics of workmen. The company now employs 17 people an has an annual turnover of £500,000. Women outnumber men on the staff by three to one and Ms Keeling aims to offer home improvements without the hassle of missed appointments, shoddy work and inflated bills.

The company's rules state men are only allowed on jobs if accompanied by a woman and staff must call clients if they are going to be late. Ms Keeling 32 from Wimbledon said "The opinion of tradespeople is so low that to excel is actually very easy. We treat appointments as business meetings." She was inspired to set up the firm after a series of run-ins with work men such as the plumber she found urinating in her kitchen sink. She began with a tool kit borrowed from her father. "I did some decorating for one of my old bosses in banking", she said. "She was very demanding but she liked what I did and gave me enormous confidence."

Yesterday, Ms Keeling was presented with the Demeter Award for outstanding entrepreneurial success by a woman aged 26 to 35 at the NatWest everywoman awards, held at the Millennium Hotel. Presenting her with the award, Sue McDougall of IBM said: "The finalists are talented and determined women who have achieved outstanding personal success. They are innovators who are true inspirational role models."