Training issues: The School of Musical Instrument Crafts at Newark is a good course run by skilled people but doesn’t provide the necessary skillset to become a maker and existing makers feel that students could do with more work experience as part of the course to make them more appealing. It is a useful course to begin with but it is impossible to learn everything in three years and gain the depth of understanding required to earn a living from the craft – the best anyone can hope for when leaving college is to set up a repair shop. Existing makers would prefer apprenticeships/benchside training to college training. Dan Parker of Canadian Institute of Musical Instrument Technology (CIOMIT) has been suggested as a positive model – originally ran a very busy repair shop, had a great interest in training staff so became a training centre with a repair shop on the side and train people to make and repair as part of his business. Suggested that college training should be linked to industry so that students are employable and the existing business could expand. A few makers do take people on as apprentices. Daniel Bangham established the Cambridge Woodwind makers to encourage people to enter the trade by having a go and then going on to Newark if they like it.

Recruitment issues: Recruiting staff is the biggest issue – although there is plenty of interest, it is nearly impossible to find people with the necessary skills. Ideal trainees are in their late twenties, and have seen a bit of the world and have some work experience – the danger if they start too young and are not completely dedicated is that they are always looking for other things. Howarth of London take on staff from all over the world but they tend to leave after a few years making it hard to sustain a workforce in the UK.

Ageing workforce: The number of makers is getting smaller and smaller and the workforce is getting older and older.

Business issues: In order to take over an existing business (such as one belonging to someone looking to retire) or to start up on your own, you need capital, business skills, and vision and be prepared to endure some financially tough years. Never going to earn millions – need to be dedicated.

Market issues: There is a huge trade in importing instruments and rebadging them. All companies, from the biggest to the smallest, do this – especially on the student ranges. Most people choose ‘built in England’ rather than ‘made in England’, although it can be hard to tell the difference.

Market issues: People like to buy cheap things – affects every industry and is difficult for any high-end retailer, and the quality of products from the Far East is rapidly improving. But usually there is an area of business that doesn’t succumb – a case of getting the balance of pricing right. Many makers have a student line imported from abroad and sold at a cheap price, and then a professional/high-end line made in the UK and sold for a high price.

Mechanisation: Reed instrument making is no longer a ‘craft’ – instead it is more like engineering with a lot of technical equipment.

Loss of skills: A lot of the specialist skills are disappearing, and there soon won’t be anywhere to get advice from until it reaches a point when the specialists will come back.

Lack of support: European trade shows can cost as much as €20,000 – French and German companies might get government support to cover their attendance, but it is very difficult to get any support in the UK.