The firm behind Bradford's massive educational building programme is predicting a bright future for women in the construction business.

Bovis Lend Lease, which is involved in a £171 million building project affecting some 109 of the district's schools, believes female construction managers are about to become a much more common sight.

The company attended a Construction Industry Training Board conference this month which looked at plans to encourage more women to take up 'hands-on' jobs on building sites.

Bovis itself set up a successful training school for female bricklayers, painters and carpenters during the Second World War.

Now, however, it is the more senior positions that are starting to be filled by members of the fairer sex.

Head of Bradford Schools Reorganisation Programme for Bovis, Richard Hickman, commented: "We are finding through our student sponsorship scheme that more and more women are considering a career in construction management.

"Each year we take on around 20 undergraduates and, by natural selection, women end up taking around a quarter to a third of the places.

"This is a healthy reflection of the construction industry's growing popularity."

Commercial manager for the Bradford schools programme, Kate Shipway, said she was relishing her role: "Construction has given me a career that is varied and provides opportunities to travel, see new places, progress further up the career ladder and develop my skills."

Bovis, which is based in Manchester, is also working on a markets redevelopment scheme and a contact centre for Yorkshire Building Society in Bradford.

The firm hopes to take in more female staff over the coming years through both its graduate sponsorship scheme and the Government-backed New Deal, welfare-to-work, programme.