Kerry Keeling: A Woman’s Touch
Kerry Keeling runs a building business with a difference; but the firm’s USP is not that most of its workers are women – though they are. Far more unusual is that A Woman’s Touch gets work done on time, to budget and without ruining your home.
By Dan Matthews
“I am not the woman who went on Dragons’ Den and got panned for being sexist,” fumes Kerry Keeling, founder of building business A Woman’s Touch. “She put our industry back about two years when she suggested that men couldn’t be trusted.”
Keeling is angry at rival firm HandyGirl’s boss for her derelict appearance on the BBC 2 show, which saw the unconvincing pitcher walk away with nothing but the Dragons’ scorn.
For Keeling, women are not innately more trustworthy than men (the nub of HandyGirl’s pitch to the Dragons), but the
professions of plumbing, carpentry, decorating and ‘electricianship’ were peppered with cowboys and needed a fresh approach.
A Woman’s Touch’s is all about quality service and customer care, not the (now slightly hackneyed) gimmick of women as builders. A former investment banker, she’s accustomed to male-dominated environments, so the ‘woman in a man’s world’ aspect of the business is nothing new.
“Looking back, I wasn’t happy with banking,” reflects Keeling. “The salary and perks were unbelievable, but I hated the politics and back-stabbing, which used to exhaust me. I felt like I was acting all the time.
“I have a business studies degree and can spot gaps in markets. So when I had some work done on my house, and the standard was poor, I realised there was room for a business providing professional trades people.”
Keeling had needed some tiling done; what she didn’t need were the cigarette butts extinguished in her kitchen sink, the complimentary coating of dust and the regular ‘no-shows’ when she’d agreed to take time off work.
Keeling has a business degree and is naturally ‘quite handy’, but she realised she needed plenty more training to make a business out of her idea. Cue a string of courses in all the major building trades, and in 2003 A Woman’s Touch launched.
The business started life as a one-woman band, and Keeling’s first customer was her old boss at CitiBank. Her early sales focused on former colleagues and she admits to being “a bit naughty” by scouting for leads during her notice period.
“I started very small with basic painting and decorating, but soon customers were requesting larger jobs I didn’t feel comfortable taking on alone like tiling, plumbing or loft conversions. So I started recruiting.”
The first 10 employees were all women. Now A Woman’s Touch has 11 full-time staff and nearly 50 contractors, yet still more than half the people who work there are female. Recruiting skilled workers is too important to Keeling for her to remove men from the equation completely.
To ensure everyone makes good, Keeling gives new recruits a trial job in her home or the home of one of her friends. She rates the work, attention to detail and the candidate’s personality and makes a decision whether or not to hire.
“When I was working on my own I made sure all the jobs were done well, but as you grow it becomes harder to maintain high standards. I now have a project manager who motorbikes round our sites and we still have a 95 per cent approval rating.
“In this market it’s actually very easy to provide above-average service. On the rare occasions that we’ll be late for a job, we ring ahead and say so. People are amazed that we’ve bothered to call,” laughs Keeling.
Her high standards are the main reason for the business’ impressive growth story, with turnover growing quickly to £750,000 in the 12 months to February. But Keeling nevertheless feels the business is “at the bottom of a big growth curve”.
It already has offices in London, Brighton, Cambridge, Manchester and Spain, but plans are being hatched for several more locations (including Ireland and Scotland) in the next 12 months, and by 2010 Keeling wants A Woman’s Touch to break into the US.
Closer to home, Keeling has her sights set on the Olympic Games, for which construction jobs are “crying out for skilled craftspeople”. She’s considering eco-builds – homes made entirely from sustainable materials, as well as an ambitious training academy for fast-track NVQs.
Being ambitious and gutsy is what Keeling is all about. She’s a woman striding out in a man’s industry, and her considerable success to date has not tempered her desire to achieve more. But she must have overcome more hurdles than the average odd-jobber…I broach an obvious question: has she ever faced animosity from male counterparts?
“It’s usually cowboys who resent me,” says Keeling. “Decent tradesmen by and large are happy to help and share
knowledge. My van has been spat at and I have had remarks made by a few people. I try not to let it bother me, but it can be quite intimidating.”
Keeling is probably the most successful female business owner (she still has a 100 per cent stake) in her industry. And – like in the case of Amar Latif – having an unusual story to tell has created several high profile media opportunities; most of which she has turned down.
“I would never go on Dragons’ Den. I don’t like the style of questioning and I would never give away such a large slice of my business. I’ve been approached by two TV companies to do fly on the wall stuff.
“Something might happen this year, but I want it to take place on my terms with some product placement and a high level of control. I might do an observational documentary related to property investment, but we’ll see.”
With her grit, attention to detail, personal charisma, high standards and media appeal you wouldn’t bet against A Woman’s Touch Becoming a household name in years to come. “Next stop: world domination,” says Keeling with a smile.
