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It’s National Apprenticeship Week and, although we don’t have an apprentice on the team this year, we’re incredibly proud of those who have come through our workshop.

Apprenticeships can be overlooked. In crafts such as furniture making, they offer something rare: structured learning in a real working environment, the development of technical skill alongside judgement and discipline, and the chance to earn while you learn rather than accumulate debt. This isn’t about pitching apprenticeships against university. It’s about recognising that there is more than one intelligent route into a career. Different routes suit different people.

This week I showed a year 11 pupil and his father around our studio. He was set on an apprenticeship, but we talked through all the options, including college.

From our experience, enthusiasm and genuine curiosity are the strongest predictors of success. When someone has taken the time to understand the craft, can speak thoughtfully about furniture, wood or making, and clearly wants to be there, it’s electric. We have created roles we hadn’t planned for because we met people with that kind of potential and commitment.

Apprenticeships are not a fallback. They are a serious, considered choice for people who want to learn by doing and build something tangible, slowly and well. We love the energy apprentices bring to our workshop. It won’t be long before we’re looking for our eighth.