I was interested to read your article “Construction: No place for women!” (10 June, page 28). Unlike the 50 women who were interviewed on Oxford Street, when I was 16 I became an apprentice for a local authority as a painter and decorator. I met very little resistance from male workers – in fact, I was welcomed and was trained to a very high standard by experienced tradesmen.

The construction industry is often perceived as all muck and foul language, and in some cases this is quite true, but changes have been made. Most sites that I have visited in my role as a lecturer and an on-site assessor are taking on female apprentices and welcoming them.

So if only I had been walking in Oxford Street on the day of the survey, maybe the positive side of the industry would have been heard. The construction industry has a big thumbs up from me!

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