Repair Shop expert encourages leatherwork careers as she relaunches Walsall centre

Master saddler Suzie, who is one of the team on BBC 1's hit series The Repair Shop, cut the ribbon to relaunch Walsall's Leather Skills Centre.

The centre is currently hosting the Walsall Festival of Leather, which involves the Ladder for the Black Country team and working to encourage the creation of more apprenticeships.

The Leather Skills Centre at The Bridge is open to year 10 and 11 pupils from schools to try leatherwork and learn about apprenticeships and career opportunities available in the sector.

The centre was originally opened by West Midlands Mayor Andy Street in October last year however due to the disruption caused by Covid since then, it had been given the relaunch.

The centre aims to rebuild on the leather heritage of the town by offering training to help create jobs and supporting the high-quality leather businesses upon which Walsall’s reputation has been based for centuries.

"This wonderful education centre is so desperately needed in the town and I can't wait to see how it grows,"said Suzie.

The festival finished with an awards ceremony to celebrate the first annual young leather craftsperson of the year. The award was open to all Walsall leatherwork company employees aged between 16 and 29-years-old who have demonstrated passion for the industry, dedication, ambition, drive and commitment, paired with excellent practical application of their skills and knowledge.

The winner was Walsall-born Hannah Scoffham, of Ideal & WRS Company. When she left school she started to go into the factory where her grandfather Alf, a master saddler, worked on his own making the military saddles for the Household Cavalry. She became fascinated by the work and the tools and Alf encouraged her interest. Ideal asked her if she would like to work in the workshop and she jumped at the chance. She now makes the military saddles alongside her grandfather.

Hannah also wanted to learn how to make the civilian saddles and Alf has been giving her instruction for the last year.

Her employers wanted her to have some formal recognition of her learning and so Hannah became the first Walsall apprentice enrolled on the Leather Craftsperson apprenticeship standard. She juggles work with caring for her younger brother and has recently passed her driving test.

Those behind Walsall Festival of Leather hope it will raise awareness of a skills shortage and reinvigorate an ageing workforce in the town’s saddlery and leather industries.

The training centre is funded by the Saddlers Company Charitable Fund, the principal charity of the Worshipful Company of Saddlers, a City of London livery company tracing its roots back to the 11th Century.

Working with training company Performance Through People, whose roots are in Walsall, the fund converted vacant shop premises to provide a training workshop offering a wide range of saddlery and leather-goods courses including the Level 2 Leather Craftsperson and the Level 3 Bespoke Saddler apprenticeships.

The Ideal & WRS Company is one of the largest manufacturers of all leather saddles on wooden saddle trees in the world, offering an extensive range of dressage, show jumping, eventing and showing styles. It has been based in Walsall for 30 years.