Special Skills Report

As seen in The Bulletin Magazine on August 14th 2007

PHILLIP GRUEFF, CARPENTER

Phillip Grueff is the first to admit he was going nowhere fast at school. Lessons didn't interest him and he misbehaved so much that that he got kicked out at 13. "The classroom just wasn't for me," says Grueff, 29. "Mum and dad tried to get me into another school but because of my behaviour no one would accept me, so I started a carpenter's apprenticeship with my dad." Earning $50 a week in his first year on the job was tough but advice from his father helped Grueff stay motivated. "I remember dad saying, 'Don't think about what you're earning now, think about what you can earn when you're a fully qualified carpenter'."

They were wise words. Eleven years on, Grueff heads his western Sydney-based building company ARCS Building Group, which turns over $3m a year and employs 30 people, including five apprentices. The business was spawned when Grueff finished his apprenticeship and went to work for another company. "I can remember thinking, I'm doing all the work and my boss is making all the money. What makes him so special and why can't I just do it myself?

"I registered a business, grabbed the phone book, and rang 50 builders. I told them who I was, what I was about, what I was charging, and what type of work I did. I though if only 10 of them took me up on my offer, I'd be in business." Now, as well as the original carpentry business, Grueff has a plumbing division and plans to launch an electrical division. Grueff says he values being able to provide young workers with the same chance he was given. "I was given the opportunity to make something of myself. I give my apprentices the same opportunity.

"Because of the skills shortage, the latest lot of millionaires are all blue-collar workers, not white-collar workers. You're working outdoors in the sun, with a good bunch of guys. The job keeps you fit and there's good money to be earned if you want to put your head down and work for it."

Grueff says that getting married at Elvis Presley's Graceland mansion a year ago is the best thing that's happened to him. "it was my trade and my business that enabled me to do that.