AN EAST Yorkshire stonemasonry firm is looking for craftspeople to join it in an effort to preserve the skills of the regions’ best crafters.

J Rotherham, of Holme-on-Spalding-Moor, which also has sites in York, Selby, Scarborough and Driffield, is looking at setting up an academy to train apprentices in all kinds of crafts, including stained-glass window making and cabinet making as well as stonemasonry.

Anna Buckley, marketing director, said the idea was born out of frustration from not being able to find qualified staff.

She said: “Most craftspeople struggle with training because if you’re a small company or one-man band, you’re using the time you’d otherwise be using to do work for clients. If we could form a community of successful people we could pool resources to do administration and it would be easier to train properly.”