Winning formula

Question: What training had you undertaken prior to receiving the Career Development Award?

Steve Reynolds: As well as attending numerous sales courses over the years I completed a joinery course with Jeld-Wen and achieved my BMF City & Guilds distinction in roofing. I visited the Egger UK factory and achieved a credit at the Velux academy. I’ve completed various management development courses and worked on site practising roof design with customers.

Ian Wharton: I’d gained an HNC in Building Studies and NVQ level 3 in technical design. I’ve also attended various design software courses for timber frame panel design, roof truss design and several engineered floor joist systems.

Q: What did winning the Career Development Award mean to you?

SR: Winning the award was recognition for me for the many years I’ve spent advising customers about timber and how they can use it in their building projects.

IW: I was immensely proud and it validated my choice of a career in the timber frame industry. It was also recognition that there are career opportunities for young people within the timber frame sector.

Q: Have you undertaken any training since receiving this award?

SR: I’ve attended a sales training course and have enrolled in the Marley Eternit roofing development course.

IW: I’m currently liaising with universities and hope to enrol on a timber engineering course. Also, within Holbrook Timber Frame, I’ll be attending management courses which will eventually lead to the opportunity to not only manage my own department but to manage the wider manufacturing operation.

Q: How important has training been in your job?

SR: It’s priceless. Good product knowledge allows us to increase a customer’s confidence, which in turn helps sales. Training is the most important factor in our industry.

IW: It’s impossible to advance without training. The ongoing internal and external training will be crucial to maintain the standard I’ve set myself through continuous professional development.

Q: How has your company supported you in the training?

SR: Buildbase has supported me throughout my career and has encouraged me to enrol on many training courses to develop my skills.

IW: Holbrook Timber Frame has supported me wholeheartedly and allowed me the flexibility regarding my working hours to undertake the training. The directors see it as a way to develop their technical department and develop the team with new entrants from construction college courses and give them on-the-job training.

Q: What would you like to achieve in your career?

SR: Long term I hope to expand on my current role and help to develop awareness within Buildbase on timber and its advantages. I’m hoping to become a branch manager or a sales development manager in the future.

IW: My goal is to be a design manager. Before I can achieve this I want to carry out more challenging complex design work.

Q: Do you think the industry could do more in training? Do you think it needs a central industry training body?

SR: The industry mainly focuses training on the technicalities of timber but perhaps it could introduce more practical training. The experience gained through on-site practical training gives a much greater awareness of customers’ requirements. I think timber training would have more credibility if it were within one central industry management – as the BMF does for building material training.

IW: A central industry training body would be beneficial as it would encourage people working in this industry to have clear goals with established steps for career development. The UK Timber Frame Association has started this with its designer training programme. Hopefully programmes like this will encourage new people into the industry.

Q: Does the timber industry market itself as a career option to young people?

SR: The timber industry doesn’t generally spring to mind as a career for young people. The industry needs to improve the awareness of career opportunities in the timber trade and highlight how we are improving the management of our forests and woodlands with chain of custody.

IW: I don’t think the timber industry markets itself to the younger person because there don’t seem to be established courses relating to all aspects of the timber industry readily available at trainee level. Career opportunities should be promoted not only to students currently undertaking construction courses but also to sixth form students who want to go straight into employment.

Q: What do you enjoy most about your job?

SR: Diversity is by far the most enjoyable part of my job. Every day is different, offering challenges from all aspects of customers’ requirements. I take great pride in customer satisfaction – that’s very rewarding.

IW: I enjoy the problem-solving side of my job. I particularly like working out structural design solutions with engineers and finding better ways of doing things. This would also include the factory manufacturing process and making it more efficient, which is often overlooked by designers. I also have great satisfaction in being involved in the design team meetings for schemes that I am designing. This has improved my project management skills by liaising with architects, structural and mechanical and electrical engineers to find solutions to problems before they reach site.

Q: What do you enjoy least about your job?

SR: Paperwork is the aspect of my work I least enjoy but I know how important it is to keep this accurate.

IW: As in any job there are going to be repetitive, mundane tasks. It could be said that these tasks should have equal importance to the main structural issues, as any mistakes here could also be costly to the company. And these tasks are usually offset by learning something new every day.

Q: Do you have any criticism of the way the timber industry operates?

SR: Sometimes I believe we undersell timber as a product and the excellent service we provide to our customers.

IW: I’d like the consumer to know what goes into our product start to finish. At times we are treated like all other subcontractors in the construction industry when we should be seen as a specialist supplier. As an industry we must sell the advantages of timber frame in dealing with environmental issues. It doesn’t seem to be appreciated by the wider industry that a timber structure offers a low embodied energy building that can be insulated to high thermal efficiencies that results in low energy consumption for the end user. This must be the way forward in addressing fuel poverty and carbon emissions.

Q: Would you recommend a career in the timber industry to young people today?

SR: I’d recommend a career in the timber industry to any young person who is willing to learn and work hard. There are great opportunities available for an enjoyable and rewarding career.

IW: Until Holbrook Timber Frame approached my college I wasn’t aware of the wide-ranging opportunities that the timber industry had to offer. Yes, I definitely would recommend a career in timber as it offers such a wide range of opportunities to explore and once in the timber industry you are not stuck in one area. With the advent of the Code for Sustainable Homes and new products in engineered timber we have a fast and ever-changing environment with exciting opportunities to progress.