KITCHEN WORKTOP FITTERS: NEW FACES IN OUR AG TEAM

After a number of years of a very stable workforce and then the belt-tightening of the pandemic, we are growing again! We are really glad to welcome three new boys into the AG kitchen worktop fitters team. All three have served out their initial period and are now very much part of the family.

One of the nice things about this intake is that it has knocked our average age down again. In this photo, taken at last year’s very Covid-ruled Christmas meeting, with Rodrigo away, only Cassie and Annabel from the office gave us an under thirty presence. With the arrival of Spencer, Faread and Bruno, the whole place feels younger.

I really must check the state of my pension fund… 😉

Bruno is the eldest and most experienced of the new recruits. Fully trained and qualified as a stonemason in his native Portugal, he has lived in the Thornton Heath/Croydon area for a good while. A family man with two young children, Bruno loves making and flying scale models of helicopters and keeping marine fish in his aquarium.

Considerable experience in our industry and a friendly manner have meant that Bruno (the most recent arrival of the three) has fitted extremely quickly into the workshop team. We are really glad to have him on board.

Bruno shifting a slab in the polishing shop with the help of one of the jib cranes

While Faread’s roots are in Wales and Iran, he is a Crawley man through and through – born, raised and still living in our nearest big town. His background is not in kitchen worktops or stone; he comes to us with experience in precision engineering. He has joined us as a templater – the key role which is the hinge on which everything in stone kitchen worktop production turns. Trained in our methods with the laser system from the get go, he is already working consistently and accurately on his own. He brings with him tremendous enthusiasm, energy and eagerness to learn.

Faread loves aircraft, motorbikes, classic cars and is the very proud dad of a little lad who must be the West Sussex Pokemon champion.

Early doors, and Faread heads to his van with the laser templator and laptop…

The youngest of our three new boys, Spencer is also a local, West Sussex, lad. We took him on as a workshop trainee back in the summer, and he has really shown just how valuable investing in training can be. Coming to us with no relevant training or experience, he has shown himself to be quiet, super-conscientious and quick to learn. In just a few months he has become an essential part of the workshop team, whose absence is really felt when he isn’t around.

Spencer loves his motorbike and is a long-term and keen clay pigeon shooter. And that was the bit I didn’t expect!

On the other end of Bruno’s slab… Spencer helping to move a quartz worktop around the workshop

In building a team in any specialised industry, not least kitchen worktop fitters, there is always a dilemma about new staff. Do you take on trained and experienced people – who may bring fresh ideas or who may need to unlearn some habits to fit in? Or do you take on keen but inexperienced people and teach them on the job?

We really feel that this new intake has brought a great balance between those sides of the question. Bruno’s training and considerable experience counts for a great deal – but the intelligence and work ethic that Spencer and Faread have brought mean they have started pulling their weight very fast.

Ultimately, everyone needs enthusiasm, good number and communication skills and an ability (and willingness!) to turn up on time. It boils down to having the right attitude. See our blog about all that.

Staff Training Day at AG