Virtual Career Chat: Military Women in Manual Trades

Tune in and listen to our leading female veterans who have transferred their military skills to working life in Trades.

Liveryman Air Commodore Barbara Cooper CBE, FCIPD, Pg Dip Strat HR, RAF (Ret’d): Joined the RAF 1978, served in both the air traffic control and personnel. Highlights included a role as Director Personnel Policy for the RN, Army and RAF during the Gulf conflict in 2002-3, responsible for setting up and heading the UK’s Prisoner of War Information Bureau, alongside the British Red Cross. Barbara was awarded a CBE.

Barbara’s final role was in the Regular RAF as Commandant Air Cadets, responsible for some 45,000 teenagers in the ATC and CCF (RAF) around the UK. Having served 32 years in the Regular RAF, then 10 years as part-time Reservist, Barbara retired in 2023.

Barbara became a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Plumbers in 2023 in response to an appeal to improve diversity within the Company.

Janet Rivers: At the age of 50, after a broad and evolving corporate career, ranging from marketing to IT project management, Janet retrained as a plumber, then joined the Worshipful Company of Plumbers in 2015.

Janet now a Court Assistant and a trustee of The Plumbers Charity.  Together with two fellow trustees, developed and implemented the strategic plan for the charity.

Janet has enjoyed breaking down the gender barriers throughout her fifteen-year plumbing career, ‘working on the tools’.  Janet also established a hosting programme for new Liverymen to aid their integration into the Company.

Meg Lee, Royal Artillery Veteran: Meg spent 12 years in the British Army. Joining the Royal Artillery at 16 years old, she rose to the rank of Sergeant and spent two years training junior recruits, with deployments in Afghanistan, California, and Kenya.  Following her military career, Meg joined the prison service in a Category A men’s prison and is now employed at Procure Plus as a Training and Employment Manager for Women and Manual Trades (WaMT).

WaMT operates as part of Procure Plus, a not-for-profit company; the programme works towards breaking down barriers for women in trades by offering practical support, training, and career development opportunities – helping women achieve their full potential within the construction industry.

The Virtual Career Chat is finished off with our Q&A panel, expertly led by our CEO, Angela Forbes MBE.

Email: pa@buildforce.org.uk to reserve your place.