Teenage girl becomes one of a handful of female window fitters in the UK

11th November 2022

A young trainee is blazing a trail in the home improvement industry by becoming one of a tiny number of female window fitters in the UK.

Katie Sanderson, 19, started work at EYG Home Improvements last year and is now working all over Yorkshire fitting windows and guttering.

There are no official statistics for the numbers of women in jobs in window fitting as there are so few, but her manager, Paul Moss, said he had only come across one other woman doing the job in his 43 years.

Katie, who initially trained to be a chef but dropped out because she “always liked the idea of tools and building things” applied to join EYG after her mum got her front door fitted and encouraged her to ask about careers at the company.

Katie was teamed up with experienced fitter Andy Dickinson, and receives on-the-job training from him as they visit homes across the entire Yorkshire region, replacing windows, fascias and soffits.

Katie, said: “It was when my mum got her door fitted that I applied, as I always liked the idea of tools and building things.

“I trained with Andy on the job. It was a lot more physical than I was initially expecting, but I find it really exciting.

“I was really eager when I first started and obviously I did feel cautious, but so far I like everything about it, even the scaffolding. I love climbing, so the scaffolding has been a bonus.

“I have met female electricians since I have been doing this job, but I haven’t heard of any other women fitting windows and fascias and soffits, so I am proud to be doing this.

“If any other women are thinking of joining this industry, I would say ‘go for it’.

“If I can do it, then you can too.”

EYG’s Scarborough Manager Paul Moss said: “Katie is doing really well working with Andy. I have only known of one other female fitter in my 43 years in the industry, so she is pretty unusual.

“There is no reason why more women can’t join this industry and consider a career in construction and we as a business are proud to be trail-blazing in this area.”

EYG’s Operations Manager Martin Littlefield said: “Katie has been a great recent addition to our fitting teams, and we would welcome any inquiries from people wanting to get a foot in the door in this industry.”

Tom Butler, head of sales and marketing at the Glass and Glazing Federation (GGF), said: “It’s fantastic to see more female window fitters joining the industry.

“It’s vital that we attract the next talented generation of workers into the sector and improve the diversity of our workforce at the same time.

“It’s great to see EYG looking to futureproof their business by hiring brilliant young staff and we look forward to supporting them in any way we can.”

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