The recession has seen demand for french polishing and furniture restoration skills grow, according to a small Aberdeen-based company.

Interior specialists Gatts say due to the credit crunch people are buying second-hand furniture and opting for restoration rather than purchasing new furniture.

The firm are now passing the skills on to school leavers who will take four and five years learning the techniques before they are classed as "time-served" French polishers and restorers.

Speaking to BBC Scotland, Doug Tough, general manager of the traditional crafts division, said: "These traditional skills are literally handed down from craftsman to craftsman over the years.

"There is no course available that I'm aware of to learn the traditional hand-finishing skills in which we specialise.

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"There are very few people still around who possess these skills and, outside Gatts, those that do are generally retired or work from their own small workshops or vans."

He said it is vital that the trade and skills are passed on through the firm's in-house training.

"That's why we try to take on school leavers so we can pass on this training and get them highly skilled at a young age," Mr Tough said. "In fact, our senior polisher, Mike Will, is only 22 because he joined us straight from school and very quickly became expert in the trade.

"We also have Emma Duff who is undergoing training in all aspects of the business including French polishing and upholstery. She is one of only two females I've ever heard of coming into the industry."

Emma Duff, who holds an honours degree in fine arts from Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen, said she was looking for a position which utilised the skills she learned through her studies.

The trainee from Brechin told BBC Scotland: "I came across the job at Gatts and it has progressed from there.

"The craft of furniture restoration is something you simply have to learn on the job because it is not something you can train for anywhere else.

"It's a dying art with fewer and fewer people possessing the skills to pass down to trainees so it is an exciting trade to be involved in and learning from people who have been doing this for many years."

(GK/KMcA)