In the press

The Argus (Brighton) - 2nd July 2007

Women - Real Life

Dream builder in Brighton

"I launched the company after becoming fed up with appalling service from builders. I was having work done on my flat and got really fed up with sexist comments and being overcharged all the time. They'd turn up late and say, 'Make us a cup of tea, luv'. Then I'd get home after work and find dirty mugs, cigarette butts in the sink and the loo seat left up. I wasn't happy with the service and thought the only way to deal with it was to set up on competition. So I launched A Woman's Touch - a predominantly female construction and property maintenance company -  in London, in 2003. I previously worked in investment banking so it was a complete change for me. I had to do intensive courses in plumbing, tiling, carpentry and electrics and my dad gave me his tool kit and DIY books. In the beginning, it was just me and I was totally hands on - decorating all day and evening and doing the paperwork such as accounts at weekends. The company has grown since and I have 26 staff working for me now. Jobs can vary from a loft or basement conversion to decorating or plastering and we now cover Brighton as well as London."

"We are very hot on health and safety and I've had to learn how to work with all sorts of power tools - platers mixers, chop saws and lots of different sized drills. My favourite is the chop saw because it is so incredibly fast. It's a huge, spinning, circular saw that's used for chopping long thin bits of wood on skirtings and floorings. It looks lethal but takes less than a second to do it's job so it can be very satisfying to use. The most dangerous tools we have is probably the jigsaw, a free-standing blade which vibrates up and down and is used to cut strange shapes. I'm petrified of it so I'm always ultra, ultra careful when I use it. We once did a job in the Connaught Hotel in London which involved decorating the beautiful walkway in to Gordon Ramsay's restaurant. The contract said, 'under no circumstances should it be wet by the time the restaurant opens at 7am', so we had to work from midnight to ensure it was finished in time. It was an enormous challenge to get it done but I was reluctant to incur the wrath of Gordon Ramsay. Every morning he'd walk past and we'd be standing there with four hair dryers trying to get the paint to dry. He stopped once and said 'fantastic work' as he went in, which is one of the nicer 'F-words' I've heard him use."

"Some people have unusual tastes and colour schemes. One lady wanted a Moroccan-themed flat. She wanted every surface a different colour, with vivid pink next to bright orange next to red. It made a nice change to Magnolia but we wouldn't normally recommend it - we tend to go for more neutral colours.  But if that's what someone wants, it's our job to deliver it. She was delighted with the result. We treat all appointments for estimates like business meetings - turning up on time, being polite and courteous, emailing estimates through the following day. The hardest part is finding qualified and experienced tradeswomen. Although I focus on sales and marketing more, I still go on site. I was unloading a lorry full of plaster the other day."