BusinessIQ Award winner Aeddan's furniture products are gaining admirers around the world

The York College Level 2 Furniture Making Operative apprentice has shown impressive progress with his employers Treske – a Thirsk-based business renowned for their fitted and free-standing hardwood furniture and bespoke kitchen designs.

His aptitude has even led to some of the products he has worked on exported overseas, with Aeddan adding: “We make a big variety of things at work and I really enjoy learning how to do everything.

“We do quite a lot of kitchen and bedroom work and house furniture, as well as work for churches and crematoriums, where we do benches, chairs, lecterns, tables and altars. We make them or restore old stuff and some of our work is then sent out to places like Los Angeles and France.”

Having enjoyed helping his family assemble furniture from a young age at home, Aeddan decided he wanted to pursue an apprenticeship in the industry after completing his GCSEs at school.

He showed great initiative by delivering his CV in person to Treske’s business premises and, after being invited to attend an interview was offered a job.

When a previous training provider was not meeting required teaching standards, his new employers then turned to York College to fill the void. 

“Treske wanted me to come to York College,” Aeddan explained. “I was with a different training group at first, but they thought it would be better for me to come here once a week, because they were only coming in every six weeks and it wasn’t top quality stuff.

“I wasn’t getting much out of it. People from my old school had told me how good it was here as well.

“I came to have a look around with my employer. (Tutor) Adrian (Salton) showed us around and I saw that the workshop was very nice.

“After leaving school, I knew I wanted to do something with my hands. I didn’t necessarily know what but, whenever we got new furniture at home, I always enjoyed putting that together.

“I did Design & Technology at school, but they didn’t offer proper woodwork, so I mainly got into doing it at home. I really enjoy the assembly bit and putting everything together to see the final piece.

“I think doing an apprenticeship helps you progress quicker because it’s better learning on the job. You get experience at a workplace and you also get paid.”

Aeddan, 18, added that the classroom and workshop tuition he receives at College on day release has helped him gain fundamental skills that he will rely on throughout his career, while learning from teachers who also have extensive experience in the profession.

“I get experience of making things at work, while College gives me the basic skills I need,” he declared. “We focus a lot on hand tools, joints and measuring here.

“There are plenty of tools and they’re all good quality and the tutors also make everything about the job easier to comprehend. The tuition is very good and they pass on their experiences from working in the industry.

“Cedric (Cotilleau) pushed me constantly to be better last year and put me forward for the SkillBuild competition.” 

The Go Construct SkillBuild competition sees apprentices in a number of different construction trades compete to be crowned the UK’s best in their sector.

Aeddan made the national Cabinet Maker final held at Milton Keynes in only the first year of his apprenticeship, having qualified from the regional heat in Leeds.

That success, allied with his Apprentice of the Year accolade, has also given Aeddan the self-belief that he has the potential to be a highly skilled worker in his chosen field.  

“The SkillBuild competition was really well organised and an unbelievable experience,” Aeddan enthused. “In the regional qualifier, we had to make a little chair from a drawing and, in the national competition, it was a TV cabinet.

“We had six hours to do the first one and 18 hours for the second and College helped me prepare for both by giving me drawings from previous competitions and the freedom to practice them constantly. I’m aiming to compete in it again this year, because doing it has definitely raised my confidence.

“You know that if you make it there, you’re in the country’s top eight from 255 entrants, so that requires a certain level of quality. With the Apprentice of the Year award, I was quite shocked. We turned up not expecting to win, so I was very surprised.”

On what he hopes will follow the completion of his apprenticeship, Aeddan said: “I want to keep making new stuff with Treske and keep progressing with them.”

To learn more about our Level 2 Furniture Making Operative apprenticeship, please click here

York College also offers apprenticeship course tuition in  the following areas: Accounts or Finance Assistant; Adult Care Worker; Advanced & Creative Hair Professional; Advanced Beauty Therapist; Autocare Technician; Barbering Professional; Beauty Therapist; Bricklayer; Business Administrator; Site Carpentry; Chef de Partie; Commis Chef; Construction Site Supervisor; Content Creator; Craft Bricklayer; Craft Painter & Decorator; Cultural Learning and Participation Officer; Early Years Educator; Early Years Practitioner; Engineering Fitter; Engineering Manufacturing Technician (Electrical or Mechanical); Food & Beverage Team Member; Hairdressing Professional; Hospitality Supervisor (Food & Beverage); HR Support; Installation and Maintenance Electrician; Laboratory Technician; Lead Adult Care Worker; Maintenance and Operations Engineering Technician; Metal Fabricator; Motor Vehicle Service and Maintenance Technician; Multi-Channel Marketer; Painter & Decorator; Plumbing & Domestic Heating Technician; Production Chef; Senior Production Chef; Stonemason; Teaching Assistant and Wellbeing and Holistic Therapist.  

For a list of all our current apprenticeship vacancies, visit here

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