A 19-year-old employee at a furniture restoration business in Wimbledon has won a national apprenticeship award.

Elvin Baffour, who works for Able and Ryan, based in Kingston Road, was named achiever of the year at the Proskills UK awards ceremony in the West Midlands.

Judges said he had demonstrated “true grit and determination” to become a furniture restorer and French polisher despite not being a high achiever at school.

Elvin said: “It was definitely one of the proudest moments of my life. It was a proper formal occasion and I didn’t I really know how big a deal it was until I got there.

“I never really liked being in the classroom. But this is a working life. I think the people I work with are the ones who have spurred me on.”

Ryan Stanborough, Elvin’s boss and company co-founder, said he was “extremely proud” of his trainee, who continues to come on leaps and bounds “Elvin’s got a great smile and brings a bit of youth to the company,” he said.

“He started from the bottom up and he’s progressed so well that we can leave him to run the shop and deal with customers.”

To achieve some of the necessary furniture restoration qualifications, Elvin attends week-long training courses in Nottingham once every few months. Before doing the first such week he had never travelled alone.

He now wants to remain in furniture restoration for the rest of his career. “My aim is to get as far as possible. If I can be as successful as my boss Ryan that would be excellent. He’s a real role model.”

Elvin originally put his head round the door to ask if he could have some Saturday and holiday shifts. He was soon offered the apprenticeship and is now credited with helping the company expand and become more profitable.

• Got a great story for us? Let us know by email here, phone the newsdesk on 020 8330 9555 or leave a comment below.