In 1983, Rob Watkins, opened RW Carpenters as a sole trader, and in 1991 due to significant growth, it evolved into a Limited company. Since the late 1980’s the company has run an apprenticeship scheme in Conjunction with the CITB, and have trained more than 40 carpenters.
The majority of the staff started with us, and many are still with us today. In 2009 we were the winner of the Mayors award for Employer of the Year. That same year we were also highly commended for the Employer of the Year for Essex from the National Apprenticeship Council and also received a highly commended award from the Echo Newspaper Business Awards for our staff training and development.
Rob started his carpentry career in 1976 with a local firm Wiggins. He went on to get a distinction in Advanced Carpentry and joinery. In 1982 Rob opened RW Carpenters as a sole trader. In 1991 – due to significant growth – RW evolved into a Limited Company.
Rob’s son, David Watkins joined the company in 2004 following in his fathers footsteps. He became a director in 2014. David’s role includes overseeing all the projects, pricing future works and is RW Carpenters Contract Director.
Frances Watkins, Rob’s wife, is the company secretary who is responsible for all the book keeping and accounts. Over the years RW Carpenters has trained over 40 carpenters, in conjunction with the CITB – some of who are still with us today.
Douglas Patterson joined the company in 1988 as a carpenter, and has grown with the company, becoming a Director in 1999. Doug is site based running our larger contracts. He is one of the most experienced carpenters in the industry.
James Westley joined the company as an apprentice at 16 years old in 1996, and has now worked his way up to becoming a director, as like Douglas they are both very valued members of our team. James and Douglas are both site based and run our high end contracts.
We are totally committed to the CSCS scheme, and all our employees have the necessary CSCS cards. We also use the services of the Safety Services (UK) Ltd- Health and Safety Consultancy, to oversee our Health and Safety requirements. The majority of our carpenters are permanent employees of the company. We also have comprehensive trade insurance for up to 10m.
