Mark Williamson

Tailor

The day Mark Williamson wore one of his own tailor-made jackets for the first time, he knew his career in tailoring was all sewn up.

'I'm quite slim, so it can be really hard to find jackets that fit properly but the one I'd made was perfect. I was really satisfied that I was able to do that. 'I decided right there and then that this is what I wanted to do,' remembers Mark

19-year-old Mark works as a tailor for Frank Rostron. With a factory upstairs and a shop downstairs, Mark cuts material for tailor-made shirts and measures anyone who comes into the shop. His granddad used to be tailor and Mark decided to follow in his footsteps. You could say he was cut from the same cloth!

Mark studied a City & Guilds Level 2 qualification in Tailoring in Swinton, Manchester. He says his qualification definitely helped him get the job. 'As soon as I mentioned it they said, "You'll be coming back for a second interview!" I doubt I would have got it without it.'

Like many people with a City & Guilds, Mark says it's the practical lessons he learned on his two-year course which helped him in his job. 'A typical lesson would involve working on the suit or a jacket, whatever we were making. We'd be shown how to do things and then have to do it. It was different from school - more enjoyable. I could do it at my leisure.' Mark says the pace of the course suited his laidback, relaxed temperament. 'If I didn't feel like doing something one night, I could leave it until next week. It was very relaxed.'

But don't get the wrong impression; tailoring isn't a 'chill-out' experience. There are stresses associated with the job. 'Searching for bits of material when people come in for alterations can be a bit annoying,' says Mark. 'Often we don't stock the material any more and I have to rummage through bags looking for any we've got left over.'

Overall, Mark, who's supported himself through his City & Guilds course with office work, says he really enjoys 'suiting and booting' the general public. 'It's good. I like it,' he says 'I've got a couple of free shirts out of it and I had John Thompson from Cold Feet in the shop the other week. It's the people that make it really.'

The next goal for Mark is a degree in tailoring. 'I'd like to go to the London Fashion College to get a degree and then open my own menswear shop,' he says. Sounds like his future is taking shape.