Meet the Team

Category: Joinery

With a combined 154 years of service at Stepnell, our in-house joinery team are an absolute asset to the business. Providing customers with bespoke joinery through time-served technical skill, attention to detail, creativity, and professionalism.

All six members of the team served their apprenticeships with Stepnell and have remained valued colleagues within the business ever since. Striving for excellence in every project they undertake the teams hallmark is craftsmanship and a commitment to delivering high-quality work.

Here we put the spotlight on the team members and their process for delivering high quality joinery solutions.

Lee Grant has been with the business for 40 years and heads up the team as Joinery Shop Manager.

Lee and has overall responsibility for delivering an excellent customer service, ensuring deadlines are met and work is produced efficiently by the team. Lee ensures communication is clear between the customer, suppliers and team, which is essential for understanding and effectively articulating requirements.

Responsible for the tendering of new projects and design of bespoke joinery pieces, Lee contributes creative ideas and solutions, he is resourceful and adaptable in his approach with a good eye for design, proportion, and aesthetics.

With a depth of knowledge of materials, different types of wood, their properties, and how they behave under different conditions, Lee specifies and orders materials for projects.

Lee ensures quality control measures are in place throughout the entire process and that all work is delivered to an excellent standard.

Lee’s interests include following Leeds United with his sons and playing his collection of old vinyl. His perfect day would be a long walk in the countryside with his partner, Amanda. Getting home and cooking a roast dinner for the family and washing it down with a bottle of red.

Ben Roberts is the Joinery Shop Foreman, with 20 years’ experience at Stepnell.

As well as the production of bespoke joinery pieces, including reception desks, bars, stairs and windows, Ben undertakes Foreman duties such as assisting with workload management, quality control, supporting team members with their work and ordering of materials.

Ben enjoys the challenge of complicated and tricky projects that take time to work out the best solutions for and produce, he finds it rewarding when it all starts to come together and seeing the finished product fitted on site makes the hard work all worthwhile.

Outside of work Ben used to play rugby and now coaches his boy’s rugby teams.

Paul Blencowe has served 34 years at Stepnell, alongside the production of joinery pieces he has varied roles in the workshop including a forklift driver.

Paul helps to keep the workshop running smoothly, unloading deliveries and safely storing materials. He has assisted many apprentices, helping them to settle in and learn the ropes.

A keen follower of sports such as football, cricket and horse racing, Paul is the key organiser of the workshop sweepstakes over the years.

Mark Skidmore has 43 years’ service at Stepnell, he is one of our leading joiners whose eye for detail is second to none. Mark is a time-served joiner who combines technical skill with creativity and design sense in the pieces he produces. Joinery projects can vary widely in scope and requirements, Mark is flexible and adaptable and able to tackle different types of projects with ease.

Marks interests outside of work include poetry, philosophy, wildlife photography and fishing.

Gary Painter is a Senior Joiner with 16 years’ service at Stepnell.

Gary undertakes the role of CAD technician, he takes the sketches from Lee and the architects and works them into technical CAD drawings that are then used by the team in the accurate creation of each piece. Gary also undertakes the roles of machine repair & maintenance, and forklift driver.

Gary is proud to have purchased his home and achieving everything he has set his mind to. He enjoys keeping fit, going to the gym most days and being healthy, physically and mentally. The best advice he has been given is to always listen before forming opinions on anything, as we are not always right.

Harvey Heise is our newest member and is currently serving his apprenticeship.

Alongside producing high quality joinery he ensures the workshop is kept clean and organised.

Harvey is looking forward to being as qualified and skilled as his colleagues, he enjoys the diversity of his work and is proud of the set of stairs he has manufactured that are installed in the woodshed at the workshop. Outside of work he likes gaming, running and sleeping.