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P L U M B I N G
meet a local
tradie. SCOTT DAWSON Adult Apprentice - Faircloth and Reynolds ow long have you been a part of the team at Faircloth and Reynolds, and what is your role? I commenced work with F&R on Dec 12, 2012 as a workshop labourer after seeing an advertisement in the local newspaper for this position. As I was working away at the time and had a constant eye out for local employment here in Coffs Harbour, I eagerly applied for the role, as I did not like the fact that I was spending the majority of my time away from my beautiful wife and children. From the first day at work in the Duct Shop, I was impressed by the level of professionalism that the F&R team projected and I could not wait to learn all aspects of Sheet Metal Fabrication at once. After three months operating the Plasma Cutter, I soon realised that I was only a very small part of a long process of Air Conditioning Duct Fabrication and I wanted to learn so much more. I spent the rest of that year learning the finer details of interpreting plans and drawings and fixing a lot of mistakes along the way. My current role at F&R is a 2nd year adult apprentice in certificate three engineer and Light Metal Fabrication.
satisfaction, then you are wasting yourself and
You joined the team as an adult apprentice. What advice would you offer to others who may be considering this type of career move? I would impress on anyone considering an adult apprenticeship to ask yourself why you want to do it and how can you achieve it. There are so many positives for both you and your employer, but I feel that if you do not have a high sense of job
to the company, as well as myself. When I
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your employer’s time, resources and money. Although if you feel that this is the right path for you and you have a yearning to learn a trade, as I do, then an adult apprenticeship offers a whole new world of challenges and benefits. What area of the business do you work in? I currently work in the Duct Assembly Workshop that produces all shapes and sizes of air conditioning ducts for industrial and domestic applications all over the state and nationally. What do you like the best about being a part of such a reputable local business? The best thing about being part of the F&R team is that everyone is local. My previous employment involved working on construction sites where very few local people (including myself) were employed, but here you really do feel like you are part of the community. Where do you see yourself after you complete your apprenticeship? I feel that being a 45 year old employee of a company that has been growing, and still is, that I have at least 20 years of learning and contributing look back on my 22 years working in the Northern Territory, where you can be a jack of all trades and a master of none, at the end of each day there is nothing that beats the feeling that I have achieved something new. Thank you F&R for the opportunity to better myself, and I hope we can work together for a long time to come.
ow long has Emerald Beach extraordinary people and our business has Plumbing been in operation, enjoyed its longevity here in Coffs Harbour and are you a family because of the people that work in it. operated business? Emerald What type of work do you do Beach Plumbing has now been in business domestically and commercially? We here in Coffs Harbour for nearly 20 years. specialise in plumbing maintenance for We are a small family business owned by the real estate agents and strata bodies Peter Coulson and Pandora Colledge. It and also lots of private customers. We started in the front yard of our also do commercial maintenance for home in Emerald Beach the supermarket chains, the and we eventually grew NSW police, banks and the out of the house e lis ia council. We sp ec and moved to ng bi um in pl How important is it r th e re al a commercial m ai nt en an ce fo st ra ta to hire a plumber d premises in es ta te ag en ts an ts of and have you seen lo Hurley Drive. bo di es an d al so s. We some horrible DIY er om st pr iv at e cu We enjoy the al ci er plumbing work? m m co al so do location now as th e r fo ce Our industry is a an en nt m ai it is so central ai ns , th e ch t ke ar licensed one for a rm pe su to our work. nk s an d th e very good reason. It N SW po lic e, ba How has the Co un ci l.” can be a high risk trade company grown, and many accidents and how many staff costly mistakes can happen do you currently if you don’t use a licensed employ? Our amazing tradesperson. We do get called in little business has grown from strength from time to time to fix DIY plumbing to strength due to the best people on but thankfully we haven’t seen too many our team. We acknowledge the expertise horrible jobs. We like to think that when and professionalism and loyalty of our we visit a job the first time, that we have people. We have a mutual respect for created a relationship that makes our each other and focus on their individual customer feel comfortable enough that they talents. Our people find us and not the can call us and we will complete their job other way around and because of this, we with the least amount of disruption and to a believe that they enjoy what they do and professional finish. create a business for us all to be proud of. 27/25 Hurley Dr, Coffs Harbour We are currently a dream team of eight 6650 0544
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