I spent 3 years learning how to become a gentleman decorator, hanging wallpaper, cutting stencils, basic signwriting, graining and marbling… It was a full education. In 1984, I passed the City & Guilds Advanced Craft Certificate for Painting and Decorating with 2 distinctions and a credit. Ever since then, I have always adhered to what I learned from my lecturer – don’t cut corners and just because you learnt to do something a certain way, be open-minded to new products and work practices. Bottom line, as a master painter, you have to keep your standards high, and that is what I bring to every job I do.