Chris Smith shows his son Danny the ropes on a plumbing job
Plumbers and their plumber's mates often develop close bonds. But for one plumber the bond is closer than most - it is his 18-year-old son.
Chris Smith has been working with his son Danny for nearly three years.
The senior heating engineer, from Pudsey, has worked side-by-side with his eldest child, providing round-the-clock central heating, electrical and plumbing services for reactive maintenance company Help-Link.
But while Chris has 25 years of experience as a heating engineer, Danny is still in the final year of his apprenticeship. He's qualified as a plumber and will become a fully-fledged gas heating engineer in July, 2008.
Chris, 42, said: "You read lots of stories about teenagers who don't get on with their parents, so I feel very lucky that me and Danny are on the same wavelength.
"Don't get me wrong, it can be difficult at times, but there are lots of benefits. We both take a lot of pride in our work and when we tell customers that we are father and son it always breaks the ice and gets the conversation flowing."
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Danny, who attends Leeds College of Building, says it was his dad who inspired him to go into the industry in the first place. "It just seemed like a solid career," said Danny.
"Also, the training has changed for the better over the years. When my dad trained he had to spend a long time at college before actually getting out into the field, but I was able to get on-the-job skills training and start earning straight away, going to college for block release courses in between."
Help-Link operations manager Paul Lawrenson said it was common practice to team a new apprentice with a senior heating engineer. "In Danny's case, it was the obvious choice for him to join his dad," he said.
"We're very proud of the scheme. It's good for young people because it provides them with top quality training from one of only 65 contractors in the country to hold superior CORGI registration. And it's good for us because it enables us to hand-pick the most promising engineers and offer them full-time jobs with us at the end of the apprenticeship period."
Father and son travel all over the north of England installing boilers and an average three central heating systems a week for customers.
And when the working day is done, the teamwork continues as Chris coaches Danny's footballing side Pudsey 2005 FC.
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