Many of our students have little or no experience of woodworking, but Jacob Corradi from Banbury in Oxfordshire was previously a birch canoe and log cabin builder, working with his father.
He explains that the tolerances in building a canoe are very different to that of making a piece of fine furniture. For a start, making furniture is a more precise craft.
“But if you can design and make a piece of furniture, you can scale that up to make almost anything,” he says.
His idea at the moment is to return to the family business, but with a professional qualification under his belt – and able to bring real and significant added value to their customers.
For example, that could mean designing and making bespoke interiors for their log cabins, and so providing a one-stop service covering every conceivable exterior or interior requirement.