Northampton College carpentry student named one of the best in the country

Michail studied his Level 3 with Northampton College last year and excelled in many areas including a number of community projects. He held down a job on-site whilst studying and now works full-time with the same firm. He also runs his own business at weekends doing carpentry work of all shapes and sizes.

The IOC competition was focused on joinery rather than carpentry, so Michail excelled in a secondary discipline. He also gained a 'Highly Commended' award in the IOC Third Year Student Of The Year competition, putting him in the top four nationally and earning him £250 of vouchers from industry partners.

This wouldn’t have happened without the support of his tutor Tim Chisholm who worked incredibly hard to help Michail hone his skills. Michail is going to continue to work with Northampton College as an alumnus.

He said: "When I was younger I was always making things out of wood, like little toys and a tree house. I enjoyed working with the material from the very beginning, so I decided to pursue it as a career.

"I’ve been studying and working in carpentry for about three years now and I don’t regret it at all. It’s such a creative industry to go into and having experienced instructors like Tim makes it even better.

"Because I like my work so much, apart from doing carpentry as my main job I started a company on the side by the name of Redwood Construction so that I can take my own private jobs.

"My plan is to keep working for the company I work for now as we do a lot of carpentry and general construction which helps me to have a more well-rounded knowledge in the industry and in the future I want to run my own business while sub-contracting my services for those who need them."