Training body CITB-ConstructionSkills has launched a 12-month campaign to recruit more women into the industry by advertising in women’s clothing stores.

The campaign is to kick off at New Look, Miss Selfridge and Pilot and will run in 320 stores nationwide for two weeks.

Nicola Thompson, the CITB’s director of communications, said that the industry had careers for women but needed to attract women to them.

She said: “While they are admiring their new outfits, we hope that this campaign will encourage young women to consider a change of career, too.”

The changing room advertisements are part of the CITB’s “positive image” campaign, a £1m recruitment drive to recruit women and people from ethnic minorities. Thompson said: “Like other industries, construction is moving with the times, and this campaign is an investment in its life blood.”

She added that the construction industry was missing out on much-needed talent because it had an outdated image that failed to appeal to women. She said: “We want to address this head-on and get young women to consider the opportunities that a career in construction might have, from carpentry and stonemasonry to civil engineering and project management.”

Almost 200,000 women work in construction. They account for 1% of tradespeople and 10% of jobs overall.