Learning his trade as a teenager with a government apprenticeship scheme, master plasterer Ronnie Clifford knows that preparing a smooth surface is imperative to achieving a perfect result.

These days he's running a company passing on skills he learned from professionals such as former boss Gordon Brown - now his part-time employee, whom he fondly refers to as an encyclopedia of the trade - to the next generation of skilled plasterers.

His ambition was to be a mechanic but a careers adviser sent him for an interview at a fibrous plasterers.

"They showed me what they were doing and I liked the look of it. I love the fact you can make something from powder, turn it into liquid and turn it into something solid within 20 minutes," says Ronnie.

He's referring to the creative side to the trade, the ornate covings, cornices and ceiling roses found in stately homes and grandiose living spaces.

Initially working for other companies, he gained knowledge and experience to go it alone. Along with brother Iain, who followed his footsteps into the profession, he set up Ornate Interiors in 1989.

Ronnie was 24 and keen to run his own company: "I wanted to see if I could do it myself."

Major restoration projects are the Pudsey company's bread and butter. Mastering the traditional sand and lime plastering techniques has given them a foothold in the restoration and renovation of chapels and listed buildings around the country and across the world.

The Temple Minerva at Sedgefield, Harrogate's Turkish Baths, the re-casting and replacement of water-damaged plasterwork during the conversion of a Cleckheaton chapel into an Indian restaurant - filmed for BBC2's Restoration programme - and a facelift at Bradford's St George's Hall are some of the historic buildings they've worked on. Their current project in the ballroom at the Midland Hotel has brought them back to Bradford.

Stately homes and the lavish properties of popstars form part of the firm's impressive portfolio, but name-dropping isn't their style. Confidentiality and loyalty to customers are priorities.

Home makeover programmes have boosted business. Ronnie says they've given people the incentive to spruce up their homes as many are clamouring to recreate the period look.

"The cornice is back in a big way," says Ronnie, whose own home boasts fancy covings. "To me a room without it would look like a box."

Rising house prices have contributed to the boom in interior trends too.

"Because of rising prices people are sticking with what they've got. They are wanting to put their stamp on their homes and makeover programmes have brought a lot of that to light. People aren't just looking at their homes as somewhere to have their tea and go to bed - they're wanting them to look right. People who are coming to us aren't just wanting standard stuff. They want it a bit bespoke," says Ronnie.

He may be the company's MD but it doesn't stop him getting his hands dirty. When we spoke he was working on moulds for the Midland Hotel ballroom. Passing on his skills to the two apprentices he has working for them is paramount to the future of plastering as a profession.

"When we started looking for an apprentice a few years ago we were getting none but we started bringing schoolchildren down here showing them what we do. People tended to think the building industry was a last ditch thing if you couldn't get an office job but they are now finding a career in building is a good thing. Once you've learned a craft you have it for life."

The perception apprentices were only there to carry out mundane jobs such as making pots of tea didn't help attract potential talent either.

"When they come here they're learning from the off. They are the future of the company. It's getting the basics right."

It's also leaving a legacy. "You're putting your name to something that is going to be around long after you've gone. It's not every job you can do that."

  • Leeds College of Building runs courses in plastering. For details visit www.lcb.ac.uk. The CITB is also a good source of information go to www. bconstructive.co.uk or www. citb-constructionskills.co.uk or you can contact Ornate Interiors on (0113) 2360864.