His company Pimlico Plumbers has a celebrity customer base - Gordon Ramsay, Hugh Grant, Dame Helen Mirren and Keira Knightley to name but a few - and he has banned low-slung trousers.

Charlie has five female plumbers on his payroll and wants to engage more women because there is a huge demand for them among female and elderly customers. WOMEN'STEC is way ahead of him. This organisation was established to give women the opportunity for non-traditional training' - the chance to compete for work in sectors such as transport - driving lorries, planes and trains - plumbing, electricals, construction, chefing or learning the subtleties of the wine business to become a sommelier.

The Tec in the name stands for 'training, enterprise and childcare'. This uniqueorganisation offers all these valuable facilities to women who find themselves socially and economically disadvantaged, ultimately offering them new career and life perspectives.

When she first came to WOMEN'STEC Angela Harper was going through a difficult divorce, bringing up three young children and living in a Women's Aid refuge. That was eight years ago. She opted to attend a joinery class and it gave her the confidence she needed to change her life. She went on to train in NVQ 2 joinery at the Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education. With the support of WOMEN'STEC she excelled and went on to achieve NVQ level 3, the only woman alongside 40 men tograduate from the trades sector in June last year at what is now Belfast Metropolitan College. Angela has continued to train and in turn trains other women in her specialism.

Ciara Walls is only 24 but she has had an interest in plumbing since she was a child. However, she opted for a university degree in architecture but found little support when she had a baby and then tried to get back on to her course at the University of Ulster.

"Part of that course included plumbing so I decided to put all the stress behind me and concentrate on this for a career and after six months of trying, I got a placement after contacting WOMEN'STEC and now I have two children and a full-time job with Fusion Heating," Ciara said. And she's happy.

Chief executive Anne McVicker explained the background toWOMEN'STEC. "In 1993 Windsor Women's Centre group wanted to do non-traditional work," she said.
"In 1997 they got their first funding and established a pilot programme where six nemployed women, working in pairs, tackled electronic engineering, bench joinery and systems management."

Since then the idea has taken off and women have achieved qualifications the length of your arm." One popular area of training is information technology, not only using computers but learning how to repair them as well - a very useful accomplishment as such experts will always be in demand.

There are also women who are qualified in designing and making furniture, wall and floor tiling and decorating. The influence of WOMEN'STEC - and news of the wide range of courses available - has travelled far and wide, to Derry, Coleraine, Kilcooley and Lisburn.

"These courses help build up confidence and are giving students a chance to work in areas not usually visited by women," Anne said. "Without doubt, they have proved themselves alongside their male counterparts and now, with their qualifications and experience, many are establishing their own small businesses. The WOMEN'STEC is unique in that we support women to address the barriers that prevent them from
embarking on a career in industry.Whether this is lack of childcare, problems with travel, financial implications or lack of confidence to go into a male-dominated
industry, we will support them in overcoming these issues.We are the largest quality
provider of training for women in non-traditional skills in Northern Ireland."

This is also a lobbying organisation. Recently members called on the British government to close the pay gap between men and women. At a conference in Hillsborough Castle, Baroness Margaret Prosser, chairwoman of the Women and
Work Commission, said more needed to be done in Northern Ireland to improve equality. "In 2006 Gordon Brown was persuaded to support funding in England to improve equality for women in work when it was revealed that the underemployment
of women was costing the economy between £15 billion and £23bn per year,"

Anne said. "The lack of spending power for women caused by working in jobs below their ability is a serious factor for government to consider. There is a perception that women were moving forward and that there was not a problem any more.Unfortunately that is not the case. Women still aren't paid as much as men. In specific sectors there are few females in senior posts and it is increasingly difficult to break into non-traditional sectors. There are fewer apprenticeships due to the economic situation and it seems that girls are not being given the chance to explore careers in areas such as construction, electrics, joinery and plumbing. We need to tackle these inequalities and ensure there is equal pay and equal opportunities for women."