'It's important to keep our snooker table craft alive'

2 hours ago

Bob Hockenhull,in Nuneatonand

Eleanor Lawson,West Midlands

News image — Andreas Carissimo restores and builds snooker tables for clients across the country

BBC A man learn over next to a snooker table and smiles at the camera. He wears a dark green polo shirt which says 'AC Snooker' on it. — Andreas Carissimo restores and builds snooker tables for clients across the country

For the Carissimo brothers, keeping the "disappearing trade" of building and restoring snooker tables and cues alive has become a family affair.

Andreas Carissimo, from Penkridge in Staffordshire, gets called all over the country with his skills, for clients including celebrities and professional players, such as seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry.

He wanted to make sure his trade would not be lost and so took on his brother, Karl Carissimo, as an apprentice with his business AC Snooker, to pass on his specialist skills.

"We would love to take on more apprentices because it is really important we try and keep the craft alive," he said.

"It's not something you can learn at college or university, so it's one of the reasons why I train Karl.

"It's a highly specialised trade where precision and tradition are everything."

It can take Andreas Carissimo, who is accredited by the Guild of Master Craftsmen, up to four months to build a table from oak and slate, with a full-size table weighing about 1.2 tonnes - and then there's the job of getting them to their owner's homes.

"It's extremely heavy, so when installing the table it can be very challenging, especially if it's on a third floor," the 35-year-old said.

A man stands in a room with brown leather armchairs and smiles at the camera. He is bald and has a light-coloured beard. — Karl Carissimo is learning the skills of the trade from his brother

He has travelled nationwide for installations, restorations and recoveries of snooker tables, including recovering and servicing Hendry's table for his Cue Tips YouTube channel.

Speaking about becoming an apprentice for his brother, Karl said: "This was an opportunity to learn those skills and obviously keep the trade going, which I enjoy a lot because obviously it's a disappearing trade and I don't like that."

When the BBC met the pair, they were helping restore a snooker table in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, belonging to Ian Miller.

"You don't realise till that baize comes off what is involved in getting this table absolutely perfect," Miller said.

"As you can see, they've made a cracking job of it."

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