Pauline for President

Issue Date: 20 April 2007

The new president of the British Woodworking Federation, Pauline Kelly, is passionate about training and will make it one of her priorities during her term of office. Mike Jeffree talks to the first woman president of the BWF about her enduring love of the industry.

Pauline Kelly makes one thing quite clear “I’m not a joiner and never have been. I came into the industry for the simple reason that I married a carpenter”. Thirty or so years later she finds herself at the helm of the UK’s leading representative body for the woodworking industry, with training high on her list of presidential priorities.

Brought up in Bradford, Pauline left grammar school at sixteen. Her first job was matching dyes in a local factory, but she soon followed in her grandfather’s footsteps - working for British Rail. A transfer to London led to her meeting her husband Liam, a carpenter who had learned his trade from his father who had moved from Ireland to the North East in search of work in the 1950s. Together they set up their first business, a carpentry contracting company. As the company grew so did the demand for joinery. Pauline remembers times when their garage and even the front room of their North London home were requisitioned as joinery workshops. “We were moving more and more into joinery and we had to make a decision about where we wanted to take our business”. In 1981 a golden opportunity presented itself. E.A. Higginson, a second generation family firm making general joinery, was put up for sale. The third generation of the family was just not interested in the business. Despite high interest rates and a tough business environment, Pauline and Liam jumped at the chance, buying the company along with a retirement age machinist, still working in Imperial measurements.

- 2 - Pauline agrees that, given the difficult economic situation, it was a risky venture and she acknowledges the help of a sympathetic bank manager in getting them through some hard times. “We had the kind of relationship which meant that our bank would give us a friendly call if the overdraft was looking stretched and I would usually have had cheques in the post to reassure them.” Now the company, which has gained a reputation for high quality timber staircases, employs around 25 people and continues to expand in its Colindale premises.

The purchase of E.A. Higginson marks the beginning of Pauline’s involvement with the British Woodworking Federation. “We inherited Higginson’s membership of a building trade association” says Pauline “but quite by accident I found some papers from the British Woodworking Manufacturers Association - I still have them. By the time we actually joined it had become the British Woodworking Federation”.

With Liam mostly out on the road, Pauline took control of the day to day management of the company. Busy order books meant that there was not much participation in BWF activities to begin with. However, a chance conversation with another member catapulted Pauline into a much more active role, starting her on the path to BWF Presidency. That conversation, with a technical contact at Boulton and Paul, centred on some major changes to the Building Regulations. “I did not know anything about this” says Pauline “so I got hold of the document myself.” “My next thought was that, as a trade association, the BWF should be telling members about something so important, that’s their job, so I got on the telephone to the technical manager at the time.”

“At the end of a lengthy conversation he invited me to the next Technical Committee meeting, probably to get me off the ‘phone!” That was in 1990 when the BWF was a very different organisation from the one we have today. For a start it was much more formal and I have to say I found the meetings quite daunting and did not say much, being the only female in the room did not help.”

From her early involvement on the Technical Committee Pauline has been one of the driving forces behind the development of the British Woodworking Federation into the modern, participative and active organisation that it is today. “I think the BWF today is a great example of what a good trade association should be “ she says “and the quality of our technical support for members is second to none.” I am so proud to be its president - when we started the business all those years ago I would never have dreamt of being president of the industry’s trade association.”

The inevitable question, and one she says everyone asks, is about what she wants to achieve during her term of office. There’s no hesitation in answering. She cites three main areas of focus - training, something very close to her heart, the BWF’s Code of Conduct and member numbers.

“I want to make training a major theme of the BWF’s work. I’m not just talking about teaching people how to use their hands and operate machinery. I am talking about understanding timber, this wonderful raw material we work with, being aware of British Standards and learning how to cope with the day to day running of a business. “

- 4 - “Our industry is crying out for training, both in terms of quality and quantity and it’s time to do something about it. I am championing the WIT Forum -our new Woodworking Industry Training Forum - we are already getting our members behind it and I think it will make a real difference to training provision over the next five years. This initiative is a major step in establishing relevant and accessible training provision across the UK”.

Next on Pauline’s list is the BWF’s Code of Conduct. “This is such a potentially powerful endorsement” says Pauline. “I want to see compliance with the Code as a requirement of tender documents and for people like self builders to look for BWF members when they are purchasing products. Joinery companies need to see the Code as a powerful marketing tool, providing credibility and reassurance about sound business practices across the board. It is one of our most valuable assets.“

Last but not least Pauline turns her attention to membership. “The BWF must rank as one of the best trade associations in the country - the membership benefits are there for all to see. More members will mean that we can do even more to help grow our industry through improved training and higher standards.”

She may not be a joiner but Pauline knows a lot about the industry and is passionate about the role that the BWF plays in driving it forward. “I want to make my mark” she says “not because I am the first woman president, it’s not about that, but because I really believe that the continuing improvement of industry standards is the way to raise our profile and I want to be part of that process.”