‘I build bespoke snooker tables at my Staffordshire workshop - why I want young people to take up the craft’

One of Britain’s last bespoke snooker table makers fears the 150-year-old trade might die out if young people don't take up the sport's historic craft.

Andreas Carissimo, 35, has made hand-crafted tables for former world champion Stephen Hendry as well as snooker clubs, wealthy clients and A-list celebrities. But he is now one of only a handful of craftsmen still building and restoring snooker tables despite the sport's popularity and he is now trying to keep the "disappearing trade" alive.

He uses techniques and specialist skills which have barely changed since the sport was invented in 1875 - and now sells 1.2 tonne tables for between £3,000 and £10,000. It takes Andreas around four months just to build one table at his workshop in Penkridge, Staffordshire, before travelling to clients houses across the entire country to spend five hours assembling them on site.

Andreas, who is accredited by the Guild of Master Craftsmen, has used telehandlers to lift tables into third floor office blocks, installed them inside converted swimming pools and even one in a vicar's chapel.

The process involved delicate joinery and woodwork to craft the structure, usually from oak, to laying down its slate so the table is perfectly level before carefully clothing it over with a nylon and wool baize.

But he believes that the specialist trade could cease to exist if more young people don't take up the craft. Andreas has taken on his brother, Karl Carissimo, as an apprentice with his business AC Snooker in a bid to help ensure his trade is not lost.

Andreas said: "There's only a couple of traditional fitters like us left and they are in their 60s now so it's a dying trade. That's why I am trying to encourage young people into apprenticeships as we need fresh blood to keep the craft going.

"When they retire there won't be many left at all and this is something you can learn at university and college. It's a highly specialised trade where precision and tradition are everything. It would be extremely sad for it to die out and we really want to preserve the heritage of these tables and the traditional ways they are built. We would love to take on more apprentices because it is really important we try and keep the craft alive."

Andreas started in the trade by accident after spending five years working as a joiner.

He added: "I was just working on things like sideboards, coffee tables and cupboards to start with. But one day a customer asked for a pool table and it was putting a top onto a dining room table and I thought there's a market for specialising in this. Obviously the joinery skills were there for the woodwork but I sort of taught myself everything else from YouTube videos or re-coverings.

"There's so much that goes into making a snooker table - the woodwork alone takes many years to learn. Everything has to be perfectly level with the table and one slip on the any of the legs can throw it all out.

"The slate has to be levelled and filled accordingly and that is a huge job in itself as these are heavy dead weights you're working with. And then there's the stretching and tensing of clothing it over which is a skill that also takes years to master as if you pull it too tight it can easily rip.

"It can take four months to build a snooker table from start to finish - we hand craft the parts in the workshop and then construct on location."

It takes Andreas up to four months to build a table from oak and slate, with a full-size table weighing about 1.2 tonnes - before he has even got them to their owner's homes. 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.

He added: "When the properties aren't on a ground floor level we use a telehandler to lift the materials in the place which can be very tricky as these things weigh over a tonne. We've even done chapels and a guy who converted his swimming pool into a games room

"Stephen Hendry's management team found out about us and we were able to re-cloth one of his tables for his Cuetips YouTube channel while he filmed the process.

"We've also had several A-list celebrity clients but unfortunately I can't share who those were but our clients range from local snooker clubs, to people converting rooms into games rooms and wealthy clients who even just want it as a showpiece bit of furniture.

"We use traditional methods and some of the modern tables are veneered and use MDF, they really aren't built to last, they warp and can't even be recovered. You find the centuries old ones are doing better today than some of the more modern tables. We use the old methods but fashions have moved from mahogany more to oak these days.

"I think the sport is seeing a resurgence in popularity, it feels that way, so I need more people but it just doesn't happen quickly and that's why we're desperate to keep this historic craft alive.

"After the smoking ban came in and more recently Covid people spend more time staying at home so are having more snooker tables built in their properties rather than going down their local club."