A Day In The Life: Trevor Watson, Design Manager

Welcome to Ventrolla’s latest ‘A Day in the Life’ entry, where we sit down with different members of the team, reflect on their career to date, gain insight into where they see the business and industry going over the coming months and into them as a person outside their role. 

How did you get started in the industry? 

I’ve been in the industry for 47 years now. I liked working with plastics, metal and timber at school, so the natural progression was to try and find a job that let me do that. Joinery has stayed very similar over those years, but the way the products are generated on site can be quite different these days. But the techniques haven’t changed, modern technology and machinery make it a little bit easier, but it’s largely stayed the same. 

What originally attracted you to Ventrolla? 

This is a bit of a tricky question, because I was unfortunately furloughed and made redundant. My CV was passed onto Mark, who invited me down to the Harrogate head office for a coffee the next day and I was onboarded about a week later. It was more circumstances and opportunity. I’m quite local anyway so it was a good chance to see the offices and hope they were recruiting! However, when I learnt more about the business, I liked how varied it was. It was great to see the restoration side of things as I was in the contract management and construction side before, so seeing that other aspect was great. It was a fresh challenge so to speak. 

What does a typical day look like for you at the moment? 

It’s very busy at the moment as the business continues to grow, which is of course great. There’s around 20 craftsmen working hard on the benches in the workshop, and I also manage a range of departments from joinery, logistics and warehousing, so each day is different. 

Each day I look through the job briefs to ensure we can understand requirements and what the customers’ expectations are, and then relay that to the team on the floor who will be building it. The most important thing for me is ensuring that all jobs are transitioned through our system to our exacting standards. This helps ensure that we produce work of the highest standard that meets customers’ expectations. 

Alongside that, I also address any issues with design, timbers, raw materials, glass, paints, consumables and more to make sure everything meets the standards mentioned earlier. We try to address everything in a timely manner, so if we are working on a residential property and the team needs a new sash or a piece of glass, we aim to be very quick and proactive to get that resolved and send the product down to the installation team. 

Have you learnt anything new since being at Ventrolla? 

Absolutely. The windows and glazing aspects were quite new to me. As were the regulations that are in play in the industry and the different types of glazing on offer. There are also the wider developments in vacuum glazing, as even though it’s been around for a little while now we are looking into it more and using it more often because of its thermal and acoustic properties. It takes a lot of understanding of the design and development aspects of the products and how we can accommodate vacuum glazing. There’s been some research and development along the way trying to come up with solutions, which I find really, really interesting. 

What do you enjoy most about working for Ventrolla? 

Every customer, every residential building, every commercial building, they are all different. You have to look at things differently for every project and the circumstances. I’m interested in the restraints and constrictions on the buildings too. There are continually new values, new regulations and systems that you have to abide by. So, there’s a lot to take on, but it means you never stop learning. 

Where do you see Ventrolla going in the future, and the fenestration industry? 

I think at this point in time, providing the likes of National Trust, English Heritage and Historic England, things like that, maintain the funding, there’s always going to be a demand for restoration. So, I think Ventrolla has an opportunity to develop further there. We’ve got some exiting work on properties in the likes of Bath, Bristol and London too. There are also buildings with a lot of planning restrictions, local building consent and control measures that need to be brought to modern standards in the correct ways.  

There’s a lot of considerations in the older properties that you can’t deviate from so there’s a challenge there as well. I think the industry needs some more guidance, as there’s a lot of confusion for homeowners and professionals. It does differ from region to region, and even though we are a small country, it’s surprising how much it varies. So, I think we might see a bit more standardisation there too. 

What do you consider your biggest career achievement or standout moment to date? 

It’s been quite a varied career, going from an apprentice joiner to a machinist, to a factory manager, to technical director, operations director and contracts manager. I’ve had quite a broad spectrum. Now I’m in the position of production manager, but my experience means I can help out in other matters too. I think a standout moment was working in an old hall with a vaulted ceiling, similar to a church premises. We designed it and made it in green oak. It was all latted in the old manner and then plastered with lime, plaster and horse hair, all the traditional building methods the client wanted. It was pretty fantastic when it was finished, it was probably 120 square meters in roof space and when we were finished you couldn’t tell what was new and what was old. 

Another one was at the Trafford Centre, where I was involved in producing, designing and manufacturing all the door sets. We produced over 2100 doors, so it was quite a complex job. It was a big achievement that worked fantastically – thankfully! 

Aside from Ventrolla and the fenestration industry, what else interests you? 

I like looking at different designs for architectural buildings, and also period and historic properties like the National Trust sites. It sounds a bit geeky, but I do like to go around and see how the compare to each other and also to modern buildings. I’ve got three daughters who are all married with houses, so I’m permanently going around working on their homes! I enjoy it because it keeps me handy. Other than that, I like walking, cycling and DIY work!