Heritage timber window specialist, Ventrolla, has welcomed Tom Gordon, Member of Parliament for Harrogate and Knaresborough, to its headquarters for a visit focused on heritage craftsmanship, business growth and key challenges impacting the industry and region.

The visit began with a guided tour of Ventrolla’s workshop facility, and a look at the full process of heritage window restoration and manufacture. This included the draught-proofing technology, the Perimeter Sealing System (VPSS), and the Sash Removal System (SRS), which is designed to make ongoing maintenance safer, easier and less disruptive.

The tour involved conversations with key members of the team, including Will Garnett who has been through the apprenticeship programme and is now a fully trained bench joiner and craftsman, and supports other apprentices.

A key discussion was the current apprenticeship reforms, which according to Mark Flanagan, managing director of Ventrolla, risk weakening and endangering the sector.

“The main reason for the visit was to address the looming apprenticeship reforms, something that is deeply concerning,” said Mark. “The proposed changes risk weakening a system that underpins confidence, quality and safety across our sector, which runs counter to the Government’s ambition for growth.

“We have several apprentices with us at the moment, and providing the training is something we are passionate about continuing. Ensuring the correct assessments and competency levels is vital for companies like ours, working with life safety critical machinery.”

Tom Gordon added: “It was a pleasure to visit Ventrolla and see first-hand the levels of care and craftsmanship that goes into every single piece of restoration work. It was also great to learn more about the apprenticeship reforms, and how drastically this could impact the industry. It’s vitally important we ensure urgent action is taken to ensure the industry has a say in the mandatory standards for compliance.”