Rare accolade in a profession where women represent only 1.7% of the workforce

A former Savile Row manager has become the first female builder to be ranked among Britain's 10 best tradespeople.

Sarah Wain, who turned to construction 13 years ago, was recently ranked one of the UK's top builders by TrustMark, a government-supported scheme to recommend good tradespeople in the building industry.

London-based Wain joined the tailor Gieves & Hawkes after leaving university but left when she was 23. She did a building apprenticeship before launching her company House To Home. She is now converting a former church hall in Notting Hill.

Women represent just 1.7% of the manual workforce in construction, according to training watchdog CITB. Of the 324,500 employed, the vast majority have non-manual roles.

Wain told the Evening Standard: "It is more hard work for a woman to do all this lifting and the job is fantastically demanding, but I'm deceptively strong, I'm delighted to have been rated one of the top builders."

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