A tiling expert, who has trained more than 1,500 people around the UK in the last two decades, is expanding his business to form a one-stop construction shop and he’s found a niche market to pool his skills.
Steve Ainsley, 46, left school at just 16 having worked as a trainee tiler from the age of 14. By the age of 19, he was overseeing £50 million tiling projects and the squads working on them. In 1994, he did an Auf Wiedersehen Pet and went to work in Germany where he worked on the prestigious Parliament Buildings in Dresden. He also worked in many other locations across Germany, before returning to his native North East five years later.
His eye for detail and passion for tiling together with a wealth of experience landed him a job in education teaching tiling skills at Northumberland College. He has also previously owned a private tiling academy in London before working as a qualification development consultant with City & Guilds.
He set up Mastercraft Ceramic Tiling Ltd in his hometown of Cramlington in September 2013 after returning from London where he worked with a large tiling contractor as a business partner. Steve spent several years teaching tiling skills at a local college in Northumberland where he became head of department for construction. His trainees took part in skills competitions all over the country and won the Skill Build gold award for apprentices over three consecutive years and he also worked with World Skills as a trainer. He also ran his own skills academy in London and worked as a consultant with City & Guilds, helping develop the structure for tiling NVQ qualifications.
Now however, Steve’s high quality work has been recognised in the swimming pool industry following a number of high profile community and private swimming pool projects.
His work has included the precision tiling of the 50-metre 2012 Olympic diving pool in Luton, which was laser measured for accuracy and a number of pools and bathroom conversion projects for well-known footballers and other top-end domestic clients.
He said: “With multiple commercial contracts for local authorities, leisure companies, supermarkets and restaurants, I found that I was project managing much bigger high-end jobs, so it made sense to turn the business into a complete building project management and maintenance company.
“The word got around about our pool tiling quality and we’ve have been working on a number of luxury pools for domestic customers in places as diverse as Gosforth, Stevenage, Kingston upon Thames, Leeds and Nottingham.
“The growth of the business means I’m able to engage more trusted subcontractors for example, we’ve recently managed the services of 24 sub-contractors on a large project in Nottingham.”
Thanks to his new direction the business has recorded its highest ever quarterly turnover and has a strong order book going into the Spring working with principal construction,
Strong skills training remains at the heart of Steve’s approach and Mastercraft Ceramic Tiling Ltd will be offering guidance and support where needed to all subcontractors who work with the company as part of its expanded role.
“We work with the latest technology and cutting edge systems in the industry,” said Steve.
“It’s important to stay one step ahead of the game to provide customers with the best possible service, and part of that is ensuring our teams are using the best materials and have the right level of skills for the job.”
“We will be offering a one stop shop for all construction projects with only the finest tradespersons providing exceptional customer service and quality.”
ENDS
Photo shows Steve with a client’s swimming pool