Our woman to follow this week is Anne Timpany of On Tap Plumbers, who recently won the Prestigious National NatWest everywoman Award that recognises the achievements of females entrepreneurs.
The 15th annual NatWest everywoman Awards celebrated 15 years of female entrepreneurs redefining British business. Among the awards, good progress was announced by a research done by NatWest Business showing that female entrepreneurs have contributed 77,000 new jobs and over £3.5 billion to the UK economy, via 100,000 new businesses over a 12 month period.
This year’s finalists were chosen for the drive, ambition and tenacity they demonstrated in the face of adversity. Selected by a judging panel of 18 of the country’s most successful businesswomen including Chrissie Rucker MBE, Cath Kidston MBE, Rosaleen Blair CBE and Poonam Gupta OBE, Anne Timpany was one of the big winners of the night.
It was a surprise!
When Timpany heard Ingrid Devin from Dell announce her name as the winner of the Athena award category (businesses 6-9 years old) she says she felt overwhelmed.
"I was up against two extraordinary women and truly did not expect to win at all. I was genuinely thrilled to have got as far as being a finalist and just enjoyed the lovely awards lunch and ceremony. This award is a real acknowledgement for On Tap Plumbers and how far my wonderfully supportive husband Raff and I have come. We just want to continue our success and growth while appreciating every step we take," she said.
How did she get in the plumbing business? It was 2003 and Timpany was in London after leaving New Zealand to travel the world and develop her career in hospitality. There she met her Albanian husband Raff who was working as a plumber. One day they realised they could combine their skills and start on their own, so in 2010 they founded On Tap Plumbers. Soon Timpany became pregnant but that didn't stop her. She spent hours networking and on the phone to drum up business for her husband. In 2014 they decided to focus entirely on commercial plumbing and since then their business has soared. Despite facing difficulties trying to break into the often insular construction industry, in only three years they have build an image that has invited them to tender for major developments. Today they have a team of 50 plumbers and 7 apprentices across seven construction sites in London. As a result of Timpany's entrepreneurial skills and their combined hard work, On Tap Plumbers have worked as contractors on some of London's most iconic buildings: The Leadenhall Building, ‘The Cheesegrater’, 20 Fenchurch St ‘The Walkie Talkie’, Leicester Square, the Facebook Headquarters and they are currently working on Wood Wharf a major development in Canary Wharf.
Overcoming the challenges
Finding the best commercial plumbers and retaining their services is always a challenge, but this has been especially compounded by Brexit as 45% of the London construction workforce is from overseas.
But this does not stop Timpany. She is passionate about educating the next generation of commercial plumbers in the UK to help combat the desperate skilled shortage and also to develop more homegrown talented skilled workers. She proactively visits London colleges to talk to and inspire students to consider a rewarding career path that offers so much potential. The company is also developing its own Training and Development programme and an apprenticeship programme with special focus on finding female apprentices, advocating diversity in the industry. “We have a great team behind us and our Christmas party next week, with our plumbers, apprentices, site supervisors, managers and office staff is going to be a chance to share this celebration with everyone. It’ll be a great night!”, she said. Women are champions
The everywoman Awards are just a small part of the organisation goals. Everywoman is an expert in the advancement of women in business and has been developing highly acclaimed events, elevating female role models and high-quality training programmes, helping to shape tomorrow’s leaders and their teams since 1999.
Their learning and development platform stretches to tens of thousands of members in over 100 countries, enabling women and male ‘ambassadors of change’ to access first class
“When we created these awards 15 years ago to champion women in enterprise, little did we know the stories we would uncover and the phenomenal women we would meet. Over the years we have been delighted to learn of the impact these awards have had on previous winners. We believe women from all backgrounds should have a platform to share their success stories and highlight what can be achieved even when faced with life’s biggest challenges. This year’s winners are a true testament to the breadth of female talent in this country and we wish them all continued success," said Maxine Benson MBE, Co-founder at Everywoman.