I have been repairing and tuning accordions and concertinas for many years and I am the accordion and concertina expert for the BBC TV program The Repair Shop (see me here in this program) and carry out accordion repairs on behalf of the Hobgoblin music stores in London and Southampton, and get referrals from The Accordion Shop in Sunningdale.
I learned workshop practices at engineering training school and also from my father, who was a clock and watch repairer. I learned accordion repair and tuning by restoring a variety of instruments and building a button accordion with master accordion designer and builder Emmanuel Pariselle (see him here playing two concertinas at once). I received training from Paul Flannery, the in-house accordion tech at the (now closed) Music Room in Cleckheaton, and now revived as an online store.
When I get the time between client work, I restore and sell accordions from my collection and spend a lot of time playing any free reed instrument I can lay my hands on.
Occasionally I play melodeon and piano accordion with a local ceilidh band and keep up my obsession with music by playing guitar, mandolin, piano and free reed.