About Us

Committed to excellence

Principle Carpentry is a small team (currently two) of carpenters led by by Gus Reid. With over 30 years experience in carpentry, starting out in antique restoration, and evolving through furniture-making, construction, renovation and timber-framed structures, an eye for detail and a commitment to excellence are the cornerstones of Principle Carpentry.

“Antique restoration taught me about detail. But when I moved to Australia there weren’t any antiques – not any decent ones anyway! So I had to adapt. I moved into making and installing contemporary fitted furniture.

“Returning England I worked for a company making garden rooms. This taught me a lot about building actual structures, not just fitting them with furniture.

“Then, for over a decade, I worked mainly in house renovation and construction, in Leamington Spa, London and Brighton. My skills in antique restoration came in handy when it came to door and window repair in older properties

“In 2011 I moved to Bronygarth and the first iterations of Principle Carpentry was born. I felt I wanted to hone in on timber structures and fitted furniture.

“For eight years I spent half my time in Shropshire/ North Wales and half my time working In Surrey, sub-contracting for Barnwood Carpentry – green oak and garden room specialists. I brought to the company my furniture-making expertise and learned all I could about green oak structures. I’m still good friends with Richard and his family and owe a lot of my success and expertise to them.”

Now, based near Oswestry full-time, with a commitment to excellence and a solid foundation in a wide variety of areas of carpentry, Principle Carpentry delivers high-quality carpentry services, peace of mind and customer satisfaction.

“Success is largely out of our hands. But excellence – that’s something we can control.”
— Gus