Overview

• Sarah Thompson, 28, left a 9-to-5 call-centre job in 2022 to train as a drain engineer at family firm Pipeline Drain Solutions in Essex, and she remains with the company three years later.
• She reports her salary rose from about £19,000 to roughly £40,000, which she says enabled her to buy her first home for around £350,000.
• Daily duties include jetting blockages, running camera inspections, lifting heavy manhole covers, scraping bird droppings from roofs and cleaning factory fat tanks.
• She says the work has improved her mental health, physical fitness and driving confidence, and she enjoys acting as a visible example for girls considering trade careers.
• The role can be unpleasant and hazardous, involving protective suits for tank entry and exposure to pests, biological waste and harsh chemical scale.